Stay in the know of the industry’s movements

This week from the Kingdom: a Saudi employee will soon need to earn SR5,000 a month to count fully in Nitaqat, rising to SR6,000 a year later; 19 new hotel projects worth SR6.7 billion are set to create more than 17,000 jobs; new Enforcement Law rules start on 29 October; Arada launched a $3.8 billion Riyadh project; Aramco awarded $763 million of offshore work; construction costs rose 2.2%; and the FII10 conference moved to 2027. Here is what it means for employers and businesses in Saudi Arabia.

This week from the Kingdom: private-sector jobs reached 13.6 million, with Saudi nationals up 8.2%; a new Qiwa rule requires licensed shared housing for firms with 20+ workers in 527 professions; the Energy Minister set out plans for up to 10 million barrels a day of pipeline capacity; a Saudi-Chinese consortium won a $306 million Qiddiya stadium contract; the Cabinet merged its trade and export authorities; inflation held at 1.9%; Saudi startups raised about $1 billion in the third quarter; and official figures showed factory numbers up 19% and hotels up 32% in 2025. Here is what it means for employers and businesses in Saudi Arabia.

October gave the clearest read yet on how much money is actually arriving. Foreign direct investment into Saudi Arabia hit SR159.1 billion in 2025, up 33.5 percent — though net flows barely moved, because outflows nearly doubled. Underneath that headline: Riyadh's flexible offices are close to full with new entrants, PIF-owned Humain put a $1 billion data centre out to tender, Aramco signed a $200 million lithium deal, the Kingdom approved SR6.7 billion of hotel projects under a new enabler scheme, and UAE developer Arada arrived with a $3.8 billion Riyadh project. For each story we spell out what it means if you're setting up or scaling in the Kingdom.