The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development continued its efforts to raise the quality of labor market outputs through the professional accreditation program, which has achieved record numbers since its launch, accrediting more than 209,500 workers in various professions and covering more than 1,000 professions around the world.
The professional accreditation program aims to ensure that expatriate workers possess the necessary skills and qualifications according to the requirements of each profession, in line with the Saudi Standard Classification of Occupations and to ensure a more efficient and quality work environment. The program includes “Professional Verification” and “Professional Examination” services that work according to specific mechanisms and methodologies. The “Professional Verification” service aims to verify the skills, experience and certificates of expatriate workers in high-skilled jobs. It is fully automated through a unified electronic platform. The service takes a maximum of 15 working days. The “Professional Examination” service targets those with medium and low skills for professions that do not require scientific degrees, where the skill level of expatriate workers is assessed through practical and theoretical tests, both before and after the entry of expatriate workers to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. 

It is worth noting that the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development seeks through the professional accreditation program to enable employers to examine their workers through more than 127 professional examination centers inside and outside the Kingdom. Since its launch, the service has included 5 countries outside the Kingdom, which are considered the highest exporters of expatriate workers to the Saudi labor market, including: Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Egypt. The program continues to grow and expand to cover additional countries and a larger number of professions and expatriate sending countries, which will contribute to raising the awareness of employers and government and private institutions of the importance of accrediting qualified expatriate workers, ensuring the quality of job performance and professional qualification for workers in various sectors, regulating the entry of workers who possess knowledge and skills to the Kingdom and contributing to creating labor market with credible competencies.