Saudisation in a feasibility study: building the manpower plan

Why the manpower plan matters

Saudisation is no longer a line in the technical study. SIDF's feasibility study guideline asks for a manpower plan that sets out how Saudis will be recruited across technical, marketing, financial and administrative roles. Beyond the funder, a project's Saudisation level decides how many foreign workers it can bring in, and so whether the staffing plan in the study can actually be delivered.

How Nitaqat works in 2026

Nitaqat, Arabic for "bands", is the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development's programme that classifies private-sector establishments by their Saudisation ratio. Several things changed in 2026:

• Five bands. Establishments sit in Platinum, High Green, Medium Green, Low Green or Red. The older Yellow band has been removed.
• Targets set by activity, size and year. The required ratio depends on the economic activity and the number of workers, and the ministry publishes constants for 2026, 2027 and 2028, so targets rise over the life of the projections.
• Qiwa contracts. Since 15 April 2026, Saudisation ratios have been calculated from employment contracts documented electronically on the Qiwa platform. A Saudi employee whose contract isn't documented there doesn't count.
• Profession quotas. Separate decisions set Saudisation quotas for specific professions, which apply regardless of the establishment's overall band.

What the band controls

The band isn't a reporting figure. It sets the ceiling on work visas an establishment can be issued, and in the Red and Low Green bands new visa requests are not accepted at all. New establishments start with a capped number of instant visas, and recruitment capacity grows as the Saudisation rate improves. A project that needs skilled foreign technicians in its first year has to plan its Saudi hiring alongside them.

Building the manpower plan

1. Start from the organisation chart. List every role by department and grade for each year of the projection, linked to production volumes or capacity.
2. Check the activity and size band. Use the Nitaqat calculator on Qiwa to find the required ratio for your economic activity at each projected headcount.
3. Check profession quotas. Flag any roles, such as accounting, engineering or sales roles, that carry their own Saudisation percentages.
4. Plan Saudi and foreign hires year by year. Show the ratio rising with the targets to 2028, not a single average.
5. Use Saudi market salaries. Salary levels for Saudi nationals differ from expatriate packages and should be sourced locally, with GOSI contributions added.
6. Cost the training. Where Saudi hires need training before they are productive, include it in pre-operating expenses and the ramp-up.
7. Link it to the model. Headcount and salaries should drive the operating cost in the financial model directly, so a change in the plan flows through the cash flow.

Common gaps

• A single Saudisation percentage for the whole project, with no breakdown by role or year
• Targets from a past year carried forward, ignoring the rising constants
• Expatriate salary levels used for Saudi roles
• No check of profession-specific quotas
• A first-year hiring plan that the project's visa allowance can't support