Sales Saudization: 60% Rate, 8 Covered Roles and Key Dates

What is the sales Saudization rule?

Sales Saudization is a 60% localization requirement for the targeted sales professions in the private sector. It applies to establishments with three or more workers in those roles and took effect on 19 April 2026.

MHRSD issued the decision on 19 January 2026 as Ministerial Decision No. 101278, with a three-month grace period. It was announced alongside the marketing decision, but it is a separate rule with its own list of roles. The sales decision has no minimum salary. MHRSD's announcement attaches the SAR 5,500 floor to marketing only, and the sales procedural guide does not contain a wage threshold. Some law firm summaries show the floor for both, but the ministry's own announcement and guide do not.

Which professions does it cover?

MHRSD's announcement names eight sales professions.

The procedural guide prints a code table in Arabic. Our reading shows it lists more code lines than the eight titles in the announcement, including separate entries for commodity and futures brokers and for retail and wholesale sales managers. MHRSD has not reconciled the two in a published summary, so we do not list codes on this page. Check each employee's registered code against the guide itself. The Arabic text is the reference. Our job title mapping guide shows how to do this.

Cashiers and shop-floor assistants are not named in the announcement. If a role is registered under a code outside the guide, this decision does not cover it.

Which employers must comply?

The rule applies to private-sector establishments that employ three or more workers in the covered sales professions. The trigger is covered headcount, not total staff. MHRSD's guide example uses a company with 80 employees in total, of whom 16 are in sales: the 16 are the base for the calculation, not the 80.

A retailer with a large sales force is clearly in scope. A manufacturer with two sales representatives is outside the rule.

How do you calculate the 60% requirement?

Saudis required = workers in the covered sales professions x 60%, rounded to the nearest whole number. The guide says values of 0.5 and above round up and values below 0.5 round down.

The guide's example: an establishment has 16 sales workers, 3 of them Saudi and 13 non-Saudi. Required: (16 x 60%) minus 3 = 6.6, which rounds to 7 additional Saudis. The table applies the same method to other team sizes.

These are totals after hiring, not hires to add. The table shows the Saudi share of the whole covered team. If you keep your existing non-Saudi staff and hire Saudis on top, the team grows and so does the requirement. For example, a team of 5 non-Saudis needs 7 Saudi hires to reach 60% if nobody leaves (7 of 12), not 3. Plan replacements and additions separately.

Because there is no salary floor, every Saudi in a covered sales role counts toward the rate. That is different from marketing (SAR 5,500) and engineering (SAR 8,000). Your Saudi staff's pay still affects your separate Nitaqat count, where pay below SAR 4,000 counts as half and below SAR 3,000 does not count.

How does the sales rule differ from the marketing rule?

The two decisions share a date, a rate and a threshold, but they are not the same.

A company that employs both must run two separate calculations. See the marketing Saudization page for the second.

How does this rule relate to Nitaqat?

They are separate tests and an employer must meet both. Nitaqat bands the whole establishment by its overall Saudi share. The sales rule looks at the covered sales roles only. The sales procedural guide states that the rule applies regardless of the establishment's Nitaqat band. See Saudization vs Nitaqat.

Key dates

See every upcoming effective date in the Saudization calendar.

What happens if an establishment does not comply?

MHRSD's guide refers to penalties under Ministerial Decision No. 75913 dated 19/05/1445 AH and Ministerial Decision No. 44558 dated 03/04/1446 AH. The announcement does not publish fine amounts. Our guide to Saudization penalties and inspections explains how enforcement works.

What should employers do now?

1. List everyone registered in the covered sales occupations, across branches and sales channels.
2. Check each registered code against MHRSD's guide, not just the job title.
3. Calculate your requirement using the formula and table above.
4. Plan the gap through hiring, internal moves or graduate programs.
5. Check titles against actual duties. Correct genuine errors; do not reclassify roles to avoid the rule.
6. Use available support. See Saudization support programs.
7. Keep contracts on Qiwa so records are accurate.

Use the 90-day readiness checklist to set dates.

What does it mean for Saudi professionals?

Demand rises for Saudi sales managers, representatives, ICT and technical sales specialists, and commercial specialists. Because there is no salary floor in the sales decision, entry-level roles count toward the employer's rate, which can widen the way in for graduates. Strong communication, product knowledge and CRM skills help. Our sales careers guide covers roles and pathways. The rule increases demand but does not guarantee any individual a role.

What does it mean for expat sales professionals?

The rule does not ban non-Saudis from sales. It caps their share of the covered roles at what remains after the 60% Saudi share, for example up to four of ten. Establishments with fewer than three covered workers are outside it, as are roles registered under other codes. Our expat guide explains how to check whether a profession is affected.

What support is available?

MHRSD's announcement lists recruitment support, training and upskilling, employment assistance, job stability programs, and priority access to Saudization support programs provided by the Human Resources Development Fund (Hadaf). See Hadaf wage support and the rates database for comparison with other profession rules.