Manpower supply in Riyadh means a licensed provider places workers who are already in the Kingdom on your site under an Ajeer permit, while it keeps them on its own sponsorship, payroll and insurance. This guide explains how Ajeer works for Riyadh buyers, which trades the city's industrial areas and projects ask for, how to handle housing and meals for the crew, and what to check before you sign.
Manpower supply is a service contract: the provider supplies a crew of named workers, you direct their work on your site, and the provider remains their employer for the whole term.
In Riyadh the service is used for factories and warehouses, construction and fit-out sites, facility management contracts, events and seasonal peaks, and for short gaps while a company recruits its own staff.
A complete provider covers more than the workers themselves.
Ajeer is the government platform, now run within Qiwa, that lets one establishment make its workers available to another without transferring their sponsorship.
The platform offers two main routes, and a Riyadh buyer should know which one the provider will use.
Route | How it works | Best for |
|---|---|---|
Ajeer leasing | The provider lends the full services of named workers to your establishment for a set period that ends with the contract. | Short and medium jobs, peaks and temporary gaps. |
Ajeer contracting | An outsourcing provider issues permits that regulate the presence of its employees at your work sites under a service contract. | Longer service contracts such as cleaning, operation and maintenance, and project support. |
Under the rules for seconding non-Saudi workers, set by Ministerial Decision 60339 of 28 October 2025 and in force since 25 January 2026, a few points matter most to the buyer.
Ajeer fees vary with the permit duration you request and are paid through SADAD before the permit is issued.
Compare Ajeer manpower with direct hiring
Riyadh has three industrial cities run by MODON, and the largest of them sets the tone for manpower demand in the south of the city.
Industrial city | Location | Size |
|---|---|---|
First Industrial City | Al Malaz, central Riyadh | About 500,000 square metres and 66 factories |
Second Industrial City | South of Riyadh on the Al Kharj road | About 19 million square metres and 1,117 factories |
Third Industrial City | South of Riyadh | About 1 million square metres and 37 factories |
Factories and warehouses in these areas ask mostly for general labourers, loaders, forklift and machine operators, cleaners and helpers, often on rotating shifts.
Construction and fit-out sites across the city ask for masons, carpenters, steel fixers, painters, electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians, with foremen to run each crew.
Office towers, hospitals, schools and government buildings ask for cleaners, housekeeping staff, maintenance technicians and supervisors under operation and maintenance contracts.
Write the exact profession for every role in your request, because the worker must hold that profession on the work permit.
A request for ten electricians that is filled with general labourers will not pass a site inspection.
The requests BICC received from Riyadh in October 2026 show three recurring questions.
The first is contract length: one buyer needed a small crew with accommodation and food for only 15 days, another needed 23 labourers and 2 supervisors for three months, and a third wanted 30 workers with meals for 12 months.
The second is whether the price includes housing and meals, because most Riyadh sites have no camp of their own.
The third is compliance: buyers want proof that the workers are on valid Ajeer permits and live in licensed housing, so that an inspection does not stop the site.
A good provider answers all three in the first proposal, with a rate for each contract length and a clear line on what the rate includes.
Every establishment with 20 or more workers is expected to regularise its labour housing, either by holding a collective housing licence through Balady or by contracting a licensed housing provider.
Non-compliance can lead to recorded violations and the suspension of some government services for the establishment.
For a seconded crew, the cleanest answer is a rate that includes the bed, the meals and the bus, so that housing compliance sits with the provider and not with you.
Item | Client provides | Provider provides |
|---|---|---|
Housing | Lower rate, but the client must hold licensed collective housing with capacity for the crew. | Higher rate that includes a licensed bed, cleaning and a resident supervisor. |
Meals | The client's kitchen or caterer feeds the crew. | Three meals a day priced per person per day inside the rate. |
Transport | Client buses collect from the housing it chose. | Provider buses run on a route and timetable agreed with the site. |
Read the guide to worker accommodation with meals in Riyadh
Read the group housing licence guide
Rates vary widely, so compare offers factor by factor rather than on the headline number.
Cost factor | Why it moves the rate |
|---|---|
Trade and skill | Technicians and operators cost more than general labourers. |
Contract length | Short jobs carry permit and mobilisation costs over fewer months. |
Housing, meals and transport | A rate with all three is far higher than a bare manpower rate. |
Working hours and overtime | Longer shifts and night work raise the monthly cost. |
Headcount and stability | Steady crews earn better rates than small groups that start and stop. |
Supervision | A dedicated foreman or supervisor adds to the rate but cuts lost hours. |
BICC (Basr International Contracting Co.) seconds general labour, skilled trades, technicians, cleaners and supervisors under its Platinum Nitaqat sponsorship through the Ajeer platform.
BICC does not run its own camp in Riyadh, so where you need housing we source a suitable facility, take care of the licensing and operate it for the contract term, with meals from our ISO 22000 kitchens and transport to site.
Send the roles, headcount, site and start date, and you will have a plan and quotation within 48 hours.
Workers who are already on the provider's sponsorship can start as soon as the Ajeer permit is issued, so the timing depends mainly on the roles and the headcount.
Yes, short contracts are possible, but the monthly rate is usually higher because permit and mobilisation costs fall on fewer days.
No. Under Ajeer the provider remains the employer and sponsor, and your establishment uses the workers for the term of the service contract.
Only if the contract says so. Ask for one rate with housing, meals and transport and one without, and check that any housing used is licensed.
A permit ends after three years at most or at the end of the service contract, whichever comes first.
BICC sends a plan and quotation within 48 hours of receiving the roles, headcount, site and start date.
Sources: Ajeer (Qiwa), Ajeer leasing service page, Ajeer (Qiwa), Ajeer contracting service page, MALHR, 2026, on Ajeer contracts and Decision 60339, Saudipedia, list of industrial cities in Riyadh, People Matters, March 2026, on the 20-worker housing compliance drive
Tell us the roles, headcount, site and start date, and we will send a plan and quotation within 48 hours.
