Kingdom of Saudi Arabia Salary Guide 2023

Introduction

Welcome to the 2023 edition of the Cooper Fitch Salary Guide for the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

 

Following a strong post-pandemic recovery, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) is once again making rapid progress towards the goals set out in Vision 2030. In 2022, the country saw a significant uptick in recruitment demand with high levels of activity across all sectors particularly real estate and hospitality.

 

Although the price of oil contracted in the latter part of the year, the per-barrel cost of brent crude – which peaked in June – had a positive impact on Saudi Arabia’s jobs market during 2022. Moreover, sustained government investment has enabled a slew of mega and giga-projects to proceed apace, boosting recruitment within the country’s project management and development segments.

 

One of the most ambitious Saudi-based projects to garner headlines in 2022 is The Line – NEOM. Billed by its creators as ‘the future of urban living’, this 200m-wide linear city will stretch across 170km, topping out at 500m above sea level. While its developers plan to use advanced modular assembly methods to expedite completion of the mirrored megastructure, delivery will nevertheless require unprecedented levels of expertise. This is just one of many projects that are catalysing recruitment in the Kingdom.

 

The ever-growing maturation of Saudi Arabia’s non-oil sectors, coupled with rising demand for the human capital necessary to complete developments of unprecedented scope on time and within budget, resulted in a major boost for recruitment in 2022. Spurred on by the ambitious goals set out in Vision 2030, this trend looks set to continue into 2023 – so much so that we expect KSA to top the global recruitment league tables next year.

Headcount in KSA

Just over one-fifth (21%) of the KSA-based organisations surveyed made headcount reductions in 2022, and a
similar proportion (22%) registered no change. A sizeable 57% increased their numbers during this period. Looking ahead, only a quarter (25%) expect to reduce their headcount in 2023, while 57% are planning for growth. This is why we expect the next 12 months to be a record-breaking period for KSA’s recruitment market.

Overview


 

 

 

Research Methodology

This year, Cooper Fitch surveyed business leaders responsible for key decision-making at more than 300 organisations across the Gulf. Our survey posed a selection of six confidential questions, which were focused on recruitment activity, organisational headcounts and salary trends across 2022 and into 2023.

The data included in our salary guide is based on the answers we received from our respondents and professional network, and are representative of these responses exclusively.

 

About Cooper Fitch

Established in 1997, Cooper Fitch provides recruitment, executive search, HR advisory and RPO services across the GCC. Our team supports clients in the Gulf and Europe with all talent-related matters. We are also a proud member of the Talent Club group of companies, with 37 offices across three continents.

Cooper Fitch also offers comprehensive compensation and benefits analysis, which is designed to enhance your organisation’s competitive edge. Please contact me directly if you would like to learn more.

Services

  • Recruitment
  • Executive Search
  • HR Advisory
  • Recruitment Process Outsourcing

Trefor Murphy

Founder, CEO
tmurphy@cooperfitch.ae
+971 55 555 7283

 

 

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