The Ministry of Human Resources expanded its 100% Saudization mandate to cover 69 administrative support professions. The decree, which went into effect on Sunday, applies to every private sector entity operating in the Kingdom that employs one or more workers in these targeted roles.

The timeline: The ministry’s procedural manual splits compliance into two phases, forcing operators to immediately audit their front-line staff while giving them a six-month window to restructure mid-management back-office roles.

  • The immediate deadline hits the operational front line instantly, targeting positions including cashiers, regular and executive secretaries, data entry clerks, storekeepers, security guards, and interpreters.
  • The October deadline: Companies have a six-month grace period until 4 October to localize the more specialized professions. This list encompasses heavy-hitting corporate roles, requiring the localization of HR managers, institutional development managers, public relations directors, recruitment specialists, and general administrative assistants.

Why it matters: The expansion eliminates the small office blind spot that foreign rep offices, startups, and lean operators often rely on. If a company has a single administrative assistant or receptionist on the payroll, they must be Saudi. This will require an audit of back-office contracts, as operators can no longer rely on expatriate labor for basic organizational infrastructure.

What’s next?

Enforcement will be heavily automated, with ministry systems cross-referencing social insurance data and professional accreditations to detect non-compliance or attempts to disguise administrative roles under different job titles.

The cost mitigation strategy: Replacing expatriate back-office staff with Saudi nationals will likely trigger an immediate wage premium, making the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf) the critical pressure valve for operators. Hadaf — which poured SAR 8.3 bn into private-sector wage subsidies and training in 2025 — will subsidize a portion of new Saudi hires' salaries for up to two years. The April mandate will likely trigger a massive influx of new applications, with SMEs already making up 94% of the fund’s beneficiaries last year.

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