Manpower supply in Jeddah 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 Jeddah buyers, where the demand sits across the industrial cities, the port and the hotel sector, how to plan housing, meals and transport 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 Jeddah the service is used by factories in the industrial cities, logistics and port operators, contractors on residential and infrastructure projects, hotels and hospitals, cleaning and facility management contractors, and companies that need extra hands for a season or a short project.
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 Jeddah buyer should know which one the provider will use.
Route | كيف يعمل | الأنسب لـ |
|---|---|---|
Ajeer leasing | The provider lends the full services of named workers to your establishment for a set period that ends with the contract. | Short jobs, seasonal 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 contracts such as cleaning, operation and maintenance, and project support. |
Under the rules for outsourcing services with non-Saudi workers, set by Ministerial Decision 60339 of 28 October 2025 and applied since 25 January 2026, a few points matter most to the buyer.
Ajeer fees vary with the permit duration you request, and the invoice is paid through SADAD after the beneficiary approves the request.
Compare Ajeer manpower with direct hiring
Jeddah has three industrial cities run by MODON in the south of the governorate, and together they account for most of the city's factory labour demand.
Industrial city | الموقع | Size |
|---|---|---|
First Industrial City | South of Jeddah, east of the Al Rahmaniyah market | About 12 million square metres and 1,119 factories |
Second Industrial City | West of the coastal road in the south, about 30 km from the first city | About 8 million square metres and 296 factories |
Third Industrial City | East of the coastal road in the south of the governorate | About 80 million square metres, 24 million of them developed, and 714 factories |
Factories and warehouses in these areas ask mostly for general labourers, loaders, forklift and machine operators, packers, cleaners and helpers on rotating shifts.
Jeddah Islamic Port, the Kingdom's main gateway on the Red Sea, handles about 20,000 containers a day, and Mawani announced a further SAR 641 million expansion in July 2026.
The port and the logistics parks around it create steady demand for warehouse helpers, drivers, tally clerks and maintenance technicians.
Hotels, hospitals, malls and towers across the city ask for cleaners, housekeeping staff, kitchen helpers and maintenance technicians, and their demand rises before the Hajj and Umrah peaks because Jeddah is the gateway to Makkah.
Residential, road and fit-out projects in the north and south of the city ask for masons, carpenters, steel fixers, painters, electricians, plumbers and HVAC technicians, with foremen to run each crew.
Write the exact profession for every role in your request, because the worker must hold that profession on the work permit.
A request for five cleaners and one supervisor should list both professions separately, so the provider can match each permit to a role.
The requests BICC received from Jeddah and Makkah in October 2026 show four recurring questions.
The first is size and duration: buyers range from a small temporary team of one supervisor and five workers to crews of 200 and 500 people for 12 months.
The second is nationality: some buyers ask for a specific nationality, so the provider must say early what its current workforce can supply.
The third is housing: larger crews need a whole building or camp with a group housing licence, often with three meals, transport, cleaning, laundry, Wi-Fi and security in one package.
The fourth is speed: buyers want to know how quickly the crew can be on site, which depends on workers already being on the provider's sponsorship and on the Ajeer permit being issued.
A good provider answers all four in the first proposal, with a rate for each option and a clear line on what the rate includes.
Jeddah's long, hot and humid summer shapes shift planning for every outdoor crew.
In 2025 the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development banned outdoor work in the private sector from 12 noon to 3 pm between 15 June and 15 September, and contractors should check the dates announced each year.
Plan an early start and a split shift for outdoor trades in summer, and agree in the contract how lost hours and overtime are handled.
Rest areas with shade, cool drinking water and air-conditioned buses between camp and site protect the crew and keep productivity up.
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 using 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.
البند | يوفره العميل | يوفره المورّد |
|---|---|---|
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. |
الوجبات | The client's kitchen or caterer feeds the crew. | Three meals a day priced per person per day inside the rate. |
النقل | حافلات العميل تنقل العمال من السكن الذي اختاره. | Provider buses run on a route and timetable agreed with the site. |
In Jeddah the distance between the housing and the site matters, because a crew housed in the north and working in the southern industrial cities can lose hours in traffic every day.
Read the guide to labour accommodation in Jeddah with meals
Read the group housing licence guide
Rates vary widely, so compare offers factor by factor rather than on the headline number.
عامل التكلفة | لماذا يغيّر السعر |
|---|---|
Trade and skill | Technicians and operators cost more than general labourers. |
مدة العقد | Short jobs carry permit and mobilisation costs over fewer months. |
السكن والإعاشة والنقل | A rate with all three is far higher than a bare manpower rate. |
Distance from housing to site | Longer bus routes add fuel, driver hours and lost working time. |
Working hours, shifts and overtime | Night shifts, split summer shifts and long hours raise the monthly cost. |
الموسم | Demand before the Hajj and Umrah peaks tightens supply for cleaners and hospitality staff. |
الإشراف | 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 runs its own camp in Jeddah, so a crew can come with a licensed bed, meals from our ISO 22000 kitchens, laundry, cleaning and transport to site in one contract.
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. A provider can supply a small team, such as one supervisor and five workers, for a short period, but the monthly rate is usually higher because permit and mobilisation costs fall on fewer days.
You can state a preference, but the provider can only supply workers who are already on its sponsorship, so ask what it can supply before you sign.
لا. في أجير يبقى المورّد هو صاحب العمل والكفيل، وتستفيد منشأتك من العمال طوال مدة عقد الخدمة.
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.
BICC sends a plan and quotation within 48 hours of receiving the roles, headcount, site and start date.
المصادر: Ajeer (Qiwa), Ajeer leasing service page, MALHR, 2026, on Ajeer contracts and Decision 60339, Saudipedia, list of industrial cities in Jeddah, Arab News, July 2026, on the Jeddah Islamic Port expansion, Gulf News, June 2025, on the Saudi midday outdoor work ban, 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.
