A major change has been made in the rules for millions of Indian expatriates and workers working in Saudi Arabia. Under its ‘Vision 2030’, the Saudi government is rapidly implementing Saudization to provide employment to the local people. According to the new order, now many high-paying jobs and high positions have been reserved only for Saudi citizens, making the path to promotion and new jobs difficult for Indians living there.
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On which big posts will foreigners no longer get jobs?
The Saudi government has made it clear that some key posts will now be reserved 100% for local citizens. The biggest shock is regarding the post of ‘General Manager’ (GM). Now no expatriate will be issued Iqama of General Manager. The foreigners who are already working on this post will have to change their post to ‘CEO’ or ‘Chairman’, for which the rules are very strict.
Apart from this, the ‘Qiwa’ platform has stopped the service of changing titles for expatriates in positions like Manager and Marketing Specialist. Posts like Human Resources (HR), Secretary, Receptionist and Security Guard have already been reserved entirely for Saudi citizens, meaning Indians or other foreigners will no longer be able to recruit for these posts.
What are the new rules regarding salary and quota?
Saudi Arabia’s Ministry of Human Resources (MHRSD) has increased the localization quota in several sectors for 2025-26. Companies will also have to pay a fixed minimum salary to hire Saudi citizens for these positions. In the table given below you can see how much change has happened in which sector:
Sector/Position Saudization Quota Minimum Salary of a Saudi Citizen Marketing and Sales 60% Compulsory 5,500 Riyals Procurement (Purchasing Department) 70% Compulsory – Engineering Positions 30% Compulsory 8,000 Riyals Dentistry – 9,000 Riyals
What will be the impact of these decisions on Indian workers?
About 24 to 26 lakh Indians work in Saudi Arabia, which is the largest expatriate community there. Under the new rules, it has now been made mandatory for Indians to get ‘professional verification’ of their degree and skills done to get a work visa. This means that it will be difficult to get a visa without verification.
However, the news of relief is that the government has waived off expat levy for companies in the industrial sector to promote manufacturing. But competition has become tough for Indians in office jobs, management and engineering. Now the only good opportunities left in Saudi will be for those expatriates who have very high technical skills or know how to do jobs that locals cannot do.