Saudi Labor Initiative Reintegrates Over 135,000 Workers by Mid-2026

RIYADH — The total number of beneficiaries of the “Integration into the Labor Market” initiative, launched by the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, reached 135,596 by the end of the second quarter of 2026. The initiative aims to enable workers registered as “absent from work” to rectify their status, transfer to other establishments, and establish new legal contractual relationships.

The initiative contributes to reducing the number of undocumented workers in the labor market, enhancing establishments’ ability to attract locally available talent, protecting workers’ rights, and regulating the contractual relationship between employers and employees.

The ministry expects the initiative to reduce the number of administrative lawsuits filed against it concerning absence reports, contribute to achieving the goals of reducing the number of undocumented workers in the Kingdom, and ease the operational workload on the ministry’s departments, while reducing the number of complaints filed by workers regarding absence reports.

The initiative also aims to contribute to increasing non-oil revenues by collecting outstanding fees for work permits of workers who have absconded from their jobs. The target group includes both employers and employees in the private sector.

In September 2025, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development launched the initiative to rectify the status of professional workers registered as “absent from work,” enabling them to legally transfer to a new employer. The measure aims to address the status of absconding workers and reintegrate them into the labor market.

The initiative covers workers whose status changed to “absent from work” after the expiration of the legally mandated grace period following their absence from work, as well as workers whose documented employment contracts have expired or been terminated, in addition to workers with previous absence reports.

The ministry stipulated that, to benefit from the initiative, a worker must have spent at least 12 consecutive months in the Kingdom before being reported absent from work or before the expiration of their contract. The new employer is also required to pay the outstanding fees for the worker’s work permit.

The ministry had previously updated its procedures for employee absence from work, granting expatriate workers 60 days after their absence is recorded to transfer to another employer or leave the country permanently. If neither option is chosen, their status changes to “absent from work.”