Your Complete Guide to the Nitaqat program in Saudi Arabia

Nitaqat program was first introduced in the Kingdom in 2011, by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (HRSD), as an effort to increase the employment level of Saudi citizens in the country’s private sector. Designed to reduce unemployment and boost local workforce participation, the Nitaqat program is cornerstone of the Kingdom’s Saudization efforts under Vision 2030. Whether you’re an employer, an employee, or simply curious about the program’s operation in Saudi Arabia, this blog post will serve as a guide for everything you need to know about the Nitaqat program.

Nitaqat, an Arabic term translating to “points”, is what this Saudization program is named after. This program categorizes Saudi-based businesses into different ranges based on certain points, indicative of their compliance with Saudization requirements. The program’s aim is to ensure a minimum percentage of Saudi nationals are employed by companies to enhance local employment rates.

The Kingdom realized the need for a program like Nitaqat when an constant increase in Saudi citizens’ unemployment rate was noticed in the country. There was a need to enhance local employment within the country, and a need to develop the skills and capabilities of the citizens. The government decided it needed to take action to encourage participation of the country’s youth in the workforce. Thus, the Nitaqat program was planned and put into action, to serve as a standard for enhancing Saudi employment rates in the workforce.

The Nitaqat program works based on a color-coded system to rate businesses into different ranges, based on the percentage of Saudi workers in their total workforce. The Saudi government incentivizes businesses according to their ranges, in order to encourage them to hire Saudi citizens.

Nitaqat program divides businesses into the following five color-coded ranges, based on the percentage of Saudi nationals in their workforce:

1. Platinum
2. High Green
3. Medium Green
4. Low Green
5. Red

Platinum range tops the Nitaqat program color ranges, and translates to the highest level of Saudization in a business’ workforce. Put simply, business in this range have employed a high percentage of Saudi citizens in their workforce, and enjoy a number of services from the government in return.

Followed by Platinum range, High Green range includes businesses with high Saudi employment rates, although a little lower than the Platinum range, but still comfortably high. Businesses in this range also have access to several services from the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, to encourage maintaining their level of Saudization.

The Medium Green range indicates a sufficient percentage of Saudi citizens in a business’ workforce. This level is at the middle of the categorization, and most businesses in the Kingdom aim to maintain at least this safe level of Saudization in their businesses. This range also accesses a number of services.

Businesses within this range are employing a low percentage of Saudi citizens, but they are within the corridor of compliance. These businesses will have some limitations on their end, but can function normally for the most part.

Red range in the Nitaqat program means non-compliance status of businesses. This means businesses are not meeting the minimum level of Saudi employment to stay compliant with the program. These businesses have several limitations set on them, and are encouraged to achieve a higher rate of Saudization.

There are services enabled by the Ministry of HR and Social Development for the different color-coded ranges, to encourage businesses to increase their percentage of Saudization (employment of Saudi citizens). Following is a list of key services for each range, and it should be noted that the use of each service is subject to its own regulations.

Platinum Range

• Apply for new expatriate worker visas.
• Change expatriate workers’ occupations.
• Renew work permits of existing expatriate workers.
• Transfer expatriate workers’ sponsorship to the business entity from any other entity.
• Immediate counting in the Nitaqat program.

High Green Range

• Apply for new expatriate worker visas.
• Change expatriate workers’ occupations.
• Renew work permit of existing expatriate workers.
• Transfer expatriate workers’ sponsorship to the business entity from any other entity.
• Immediate counting in the Nitaqat program.

Medium Green Range

• Apply for new expatriate worker visas.
• Change expatriate workers’ occupations.
• Renew work permit of existing expatriate workers.
• Transfer expatriate workers’ sponsorship to the business entity from any other entity.
• Immediate counting in the Nitaqat program.

Low Green Range

• Cannot apply for new expatriate worker visas.
• Cannot change expatriate workers’ occupations.
• Renew work permit of existing expatriate workers.
• Immediate counting in Nitaqat program.

Red Range:

• Cannot apply for new expatriate worker visas.
• Cannot change expatriate workers’ occupations.
• Cannot transfer expatriate workers’ sponsorship to the entity.
• Cannot issue work permit for new expatriate workers.
• Cannot renew work permit of existing expatriate workers.

The reason we haven’t simply mentioned the percentages of Saudi employment needed to fit into each color range is because there is no set percentage determined for these ranges. So how exactly are businesses classified into these ranges? There are a number of factors that determine which range of Nitaqat a business falls into, including the economic activity that the business functions in, the number of years that the business has been running for, and the number of total workforce that the business has employed.

Firstly, the number of Saudi citizens that any business needs to employ differs based on different economic activities. For instance, for a business in the economic activity of operations and maintenance, the percentage of Saudi citizen employees needed to maintain could be lower than the percentage of Saudi citizen employees needed in a business within the health sector.

Secondly, the percentage of Saudi employment that a business has to meet for any of the five ranges gradually increases over the first three years of the business, before stabilizing at third year and onwards.

Lastly, the percentage of Saudi citizens that a business has to employ also depends on the total number of workers employed by a business.

The Nitaqat program, more than just a compliance requirement, is a transformative initiative that aligns with Saudi Arabia’s broader goals for economic growth and workforce development. While it challenges businesses to maintain a certain percentage of Saudi employees, it also creates opportunities for growth and innovation by fostering a diverse and skilled workforce.