Saudi Arabia job market report: October 2026
Covers the 30 days to 31 October 2026. Published 1 November 2026. These numbers are frozen and will not change.
Key findings
- New jobs
- 14,826 new jobs were posted in Saudi Arabia in October 2026. 14,219 jobs closed over the same period, and 12,049 were open at the end of it.
- Employers
- Larsen & Toubro posted the most new jobs (539).
- Skills
- The skill employers named most was Excel, in 954 new adverts.
- Requirements
- 44% of open jobs asked for a degree (66% in Energy & Sustainability). The typical experience asked was 5 years.
- Advertised pay
- Among adverts that state a salary, Construction & Engineering adverts offered the most: typically AED 24,500 to 39,000 a month.
- Pay and access
- Only 5% of open jobs stated a salary. Entry-level and junior roles made up 10% of new jobs (18% the month before). 5% of new jobs were reserved for GCC nationals.
New jobs in the month
14,826
Jobs closed in the month
14,219
Jobs open at the end of the month
12,049
New and closed jobs, week by week
Complete weeks only, for employers we were already tracking at the start, so a new source never looks like a hiring spike.
Skills employers ask for
The skills named most often in new adverts over the last 30 days. General soft skills are left out.
- 1Excel954
- 2Project management698
- 3Data analysis635
- 4Risk management599
- 5Regulatory compliance574
- 6Budgeting482
- 7Inventory management460
- 8Forecasting431
- 9Quality assurance417
- 10Business development412
- 11Risk assessment404
- 12Arabic383
- 13Project coordination375
- 14Customer relationship management361
- 15Change management354
Rising fastest
Like-for-like change vs the previous 30 days, on at least 30 adverts.
Not enough history yet to call a rise.
What employers ask for, and what CVs show
For each field: the skills named most in new adverts, and how often CVs uploaded to JobXDubai mention them (5,791 anonymous CVs). A CV mentions far more skills than an advert lists, so compare down each column, not across.
Engineering & Technology
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Python | 7% | 47% |
| Troubleshooting | 7% | 26% |
| Project management | 5% | 16% |
| Documentation | 5% | 39% |
| Kubernetes | 4% | 11% |
| SQL | 4% | 46% |
2,052 adverts, 1,652 CVs
Finance & Accounting
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Financial reporting | 30% | 65% |
| Excel | 26% | 83% |
| Budgeting | 18% | 37% |
| Accounts receivable | 17% | 34% |
| Financial analysis | 15% | 26% |
| Forecasting | 14% | 32% |
854 adverts, 591 CVs
Sales & Business Development
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Business development | 17% | 57% |
| Customer relationship management | 15% | 14% |
| Account management | 12% | 30% |
| Lead generation | 9% | 22% |
| Client relationship management | 9% | 15% |
| B2B sales | 8% | 13% |
1,771 adverts, 552 CVs
Construction & Engineering
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| AutoCAD | 9% | 58% |
| Risk management | 9% | 24% |
| Project management | 8% | 39% |
| Project coordination | 7% | 14% |
| Quality assurance | 7% | 15% |
| Risk assessment | 7% | 13% |
2,748 adverts, 444 CVs
Hospitality & Tourism
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Guest service | 13% | 27% |
| Inventory management | 10% | 16% |
| Food safety | 7% | 31% |
| Food preparation | 7% | 9% |
| Guest services | 7% | 6% |
| Guest relations | 5% | 26% |
1,461 adverts, 355 CVs
Marketing & Communications
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Budget management | 14% | 13% |
| Digital marketing | 13% | 73% |
| Brand management | 10% | 12% |
| Campaign management | 10% | 17% |
| Content creation | 10% | 28% |
| Public relations | 10% | 8% |
460 adverts, 225 CVs
Human Resources
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Employee relations | 21% | 62% |
| Onboarding | 16% | 87% |
| Performance management | 14% | 46% |
| Workforce planning | 14% | 46% |
| GOSI | 13% | 0% |
| Excel | 12% | 55% |
363 adverts, 188 CVs
Operations & Logistics
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Inventory management | 13% | 36% |
| Excel | 13% | 66% |
| Data analysis | 12% | 10% |
| Vendor management | 7% | 23% |
| Process improvement | 6% | 25% |
| ERP systems | 5% | 16% |
1,372 adverts, 154 CVs
Healthcare & Medical
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Patient education | 9% | 25% |
| Clinical documentation | 7% | 37% |
| Regulatory compliance | 6% | 13% |
| Quality improvement | 5% | 21% |
| Infection control | 5% | 41% |
| Clinical assessment | 5% | 11% |
499 adverts, 109 CVs
Design & Creative
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Adobe Photoshop | 20% | 55% |
| Figma | 20% | 49% |
| Graphic design | 20% | 41% |
| Adobe Illustrator | 19% | 39% |
| Typography | 18% | 29% |
| Adobe Creative Suite | 16% | 19% |
205 adverts, 75 CVs
Education & Training
| Skill | In adverts | In CVs |
|---|---|---|
| Classroom management | 13% | 43% |
| Curriculum development | 12% | 19% |
| Lesson planning | 6% | 51% |
| Pastoral care | 6% | 8% |
| Instructional design | 5% | 8% |
| Training delivery | 5% | 0% |
275 adverts, 74 CVs
Where competition for jobs is highest
Each field's share of the CVs uploaded to JobXDubai against its share of new jobs. Above 1 means more job seekers than openings, relative to other fields. Our CVs are a sample, so read this as a comparison between fields, not a count of applicants.
| Field | Share of CVs | Share of new jobs | Competition |
|---|---|---|---|
| Engineering & Technology | 37% | 14% | 2.7x |
| Finance & Accounting | 13% | 6% | 2.3x |
| Human Resources | 4% | 2% | 1.7x |
| Marketing & Communications | 5% | 3% | 1.6x |
| Design & Creative | 2% | 1% | 1.2x |
| Sales & Business Development | 12% | 12% | 1.0x |
| Education & Training | 2% | 2% | 0.9x |
| Hospitality & Tourism | 8% | 10% | 0.8x |
| Healthcare & Medical | 2% | 3% | 0.7x |
| Construction & Engineering | 10% | 19% | 0.5x |
| Operations & Logistics | 3% | 9% | 0.4x |
What employers require
From the requirements in 12,049 open adverts. The typical ask is the median.
44%
ask for a degree
5
years of experience, typical ask
1%
ask for a driving licence
4%
require Arabic
| Field | Years asked | Degree | Credentials asked for most |
|---|---|---|---|
| Construction & Engineering | 10 | 62% | PMP, SCE registration, PMP or equivalent |
| Engineering & Technology | 5 | 41% | PMP, Ph.D. |
| Sales & Business Development | 4 | 36% | |
| Hospitality & Tourism | 2 | 27% | CPR certification, Saudi, HACCP |
| Operations & Logistics | 4 | 46% | ATPL |
| Finance & Accounting | 5 | 50% | SOCPA |
| Energy & Sustainability | 7 | 66% | |
| Healthcare & Medical | 3 | 40% | SCFHS, Membership/Fellowship/Board Certification, BLS |
| Executive & Management | 8 | 38% | PMP |
| Marketing & Communications | 4 | 30% | |
| Education & Training | 3 | 27% | Ph.D. |
| Legal & Compliance | 5 | 48% | Bar admission |
| Human Resources | 4 | 43% | |
| Administrative | 4 | 44% | |
| Real Estate & Property | 5 | 44% | |
| Data & Analytics | 5 | 42% | |
| Design & Creative | 4 | 26% | |
| Customer Support | 1 | 39% | |
| AI & Machine Learning | 5 | 39% | |
| Product Management | 5 | 22% |
Advertised pay, as employers state it
Only adverts where the employer published a salary (542 open jobs). Typical (median) monthly range, in AED, for fields with at least 30 such adverts.
| Field | Typical advertised range | Adverts |
|---|---|---|
| Construction & Engineering | AED 24.5k to 39k a month | 83 |
| Engineering & Technology | AED 16.5k to 31.5k a month | 49 |
| Sales & Business Development | AED 12k to 17.5k a month | 56 |
| Operations & Logistics | AED 8k to 12k a month | 50 |
| Hospitality & Tourism | AED 7k to 8k a month | 96 |
Adverts that state pay lean towards some employers and roles, so this is what advertised jobs offer, not what everyone earns.
What open jobs pay: our estimate
Most Gulf adverts don't state a salary, so these bands use our own estimate for each open job (the employer's figure when they give one). Individual estimates can be well off, so read this as the shape of the market, not a salary guide.
Open jobs by estimated monthly pay
- Under AED 5k9%
- AED 5k to 10k42%
- AED 10k to 20k35%
- AED 20k to 35k7%
- AED 35k and above6%
Estimate. 11,835 of 12,049 open jobs have a pay figure.
Adverts that state the pay
5%
Of jobs open now, the share where the employer published a salary. This one is a count, not an estimate.
Who the jobs are for
New jobs open to entry-level and junior candidates
10%
Last 30 days. The 30 days before: 18% (down 8 points).
New jobs reserved for GCC nationals
5%
Adverts that say the role is for Emirati, Saudi or other GCC nationals only. Last 30 days.
- Hospitality & Tourism9%
- Customer Support8%
- Administrative7%
- Construction & Engineering7%
- Human Resources7%
Most active employers
By new jobs posted in the last 30 days.
- 1Larsen & Toubro539
- 2Hilton507
- 3Marriott International250
- 4Qiddiya | القدية247
- 5Parsons176
- 6Parsons Corporation164
- 7Mace140
- 8alfanar125
- 9AtkinsRéalis122
- 10Jobgether117
Where the new jobs are
New jobs in the last 30 days, by city.
Cite this report
Free to quote under CC BY 4.0. Please credit JobXDubai with a link to this page.
JobXDubai, "Saudi Arabia job market report: October 2026", published 1 November 2026. https://jobxdubai.com/job-market/reports/saudi-arabia-job-market-october-2026
Source: <a href="https://jobxdubai.com/job-market/reports/saudi-arabia-job-market-october-2026">JobXDubai, Saudi Arabia job market report: October 2026</a>
How we count: see the methodology. Today's numbers: the live pulse. More months: all reports.