Tawteen Wage Subsidy Program

Tawteen Wage Subsidy

Funds private sector employers by sharing wage costs for newly hired Saudi nationals in targeted categories.

Tawteen is a rolling employer wage subsidy programme administered by the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) of Saudi Arabia, designed to incentivise private sector establishments to hire and retain Saudi nationals. The programme pays participating employers 30% of each newly hired Saudi employee's monthly wage, capped at SAR 3,000 per employee per month, for a period of 24 months per hire. Employers have a maximum 36-month programme window. Tawteen targets specific economic sectors including healthcare, real estate, construction, transportation, logistics, tourism, industrial, and commercial industries.

The standard 30% subsidy rate increases to 50% for female employees, persons with disabilities, and employees hired in their home city. Additional one-off payments are available for childcare provision and remote-work equipment to further reduce employment friction. The hired employee must be a Saudi national aged 18–60, earning monthly wages between SAR 5,000 and SAR 15,000, with an employment contract of indefinite or fixed-term duration of at least 12 months. Employers must apply for incentives within 90 days of entitlement; late applications are not accepted retroactively.

Employer applications are submitted through the Taqat e-services platform (eservices.taqat.sa); job seekers register via the Jadarat platform (jadarat.sa). Participating establishments must maintain an active Taqat account and a valid IBAN on file with HRDF. Workers employed under government project operation contracts are explicitly excluded. Tawteen operates on a rolling basis with no fixed deadline, allowing establishments to enrol continuously as they make qualifying hires. The programme is part of Saudi Vision 2030's Saudisation (Nitaqat) framework and may be updated in line with labour market conditions.