Saudi Arabia's Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development (MHRSD) has issued a ministerial decision to Saudize 30% of accounting professions in the private sector by 11 June 2021.
The decision applies to all private sector businesses with 5 or more workers in the accounting profession who have professional accreditation from the Saudi Organization for Certified Public Accountants.
For Saudi accountants to be counted in the Saudization percentage, they must have a monthly salary of SR6,000 for bachelor holders or SR4,500 for diploma holders. Those who receive lower wages will not be counted in the Saudization quota.
The accounting professions that are targeted for Saudization include accounts manager, manager of zakat and taxes department, internal auditor, cost accountant, financial audit supervisor, bookkeeping clerk and others.
According to the MHRSD, businesses that do not adhere to the Saudization percentage or engage in visa falsification will have their electronic labour services for all accounting professions suspended, in addition to the fines stipulated in the labour law’s executive regulations.
According to the MHRSD, the decision to nationalize the accounting professions is estimated to provide more than 9,800 jobs for Saudi nationals. Saudi Arabia has recently stepped up its Saudization program, which included the partial Saudization of retail, pharmacy, engineering and other jobs. According to the latest statistics, more than 284,000 expat workers have left the Saudi labour market in the second quarter of 2020, which coincided with the Covid-19 outbreak.
