How to calculate your workforce quota percentage

• You need to know your quota percentage before you can fix it. Without the number you are guessing at hires, guessing at timelines, and guessing at whether you stay out of the red band next quarter.

• Here is how to calculate it: the weighted formula, what each input means, and where to verify the result.

The basic formula

• Your quota percentage is a ratio:

• **Quota % = (Weighted national headcount ÷ Total weighted headcount) × 100**

• That percentage is then compared with a **required percentage** set by your economic sector and total establishment size. Your **band**, red through platinum, depends on how your actual rate compares with that required rate.

• The official calculation lives in the labour ministry's procedural guide for the 2026 cycle, and the ministry publishes its own calculator. Your government labour portal shows your live band. Everything below explains the logic so you can plan hires before they reach the register.

Step 1: Count your headcount

• Start with every employee registered to your establishment through social insurance and the labour portal:

• **Nationals** (Saudi nationals, and GCC nationals treated as local)
• **Expatriate employees** (non-GCC foreign workers)

• Only employees actively registered to your establishment count. Contractors, dependants, and employees registered to a different entity do not enter your calculation.

Step 2: Apply salary weighting

• The programme does not treat every national employee equally. Salary weighting stops establishments listing people on paper at token wages to inflate compliance without creating real jobs.

• Expatriate employees typically count at full weight (1.0 each) in the denominator.

• **Example:** you have 8 nationals earning SAR 5,000 (full credit each, 8.0 weighted) and 4 earning SAR 3,500 (half credit each, 2.0 weighted). Your weighted national headcount is 10.0, even though 12 nationals are on payroll.

• Additional weighting rules from the procedural guide:

• **Part-time and co-op nationals** count at half weight (0.5)
• **Nationals with a registered disability** receive a multiplier, up to a capped contribution

• These adjustments reward genuine employment and penalise paper compliance.

Step 3: Calculate your actual percentage

• With weighted counts in hand:

• ```
• Weighted national total = sum of all national weights
• Total weighted headcount = weighted national total + (expatriate count × 1.0)
• Actual % = (Weighted national total ÷ Total weighted headcount) × 100
• ```

• **Worked example:**

• Actual quota percentage = (16.5 ÷ 56.5) × 100 = **29.2%**

• Note: the weighted national total is 15.0 + 1.5 + 0.0 = 16.5.

Step 4: Find your required percentage

• Your required rate is not a flat number. It depends on:

1. **Your economic sector** (ISIC activity classification)
2. **Your total establishment headcount**

• The programme uses a logarithmic curve, so larger establishments in the same sector generally face higher required rates. Sector consolidation merged similar activities so targets track economic reality rather than arbitrary size buckets.

• The exact coefficients per ISIC4 activity are published in the ministry's procedural guide. If you do not know your precise ISIC code, use your sector category as a directional starting point, then confirm on the labour portal.

Step 5: Determine your band

• Your band is a function of your **ratio**: actual percentage divided by required percentage.

• **Continuing the example:** if your required rate is 25% and your actual is 29.2%, your ratio is 1.17, which places you in **high green** as a directional estimate.

• We break down what each band unlocks in [workforce quota bands explained](/spaces/workforce-quota-bands-explained).

Step 6: Account for the 26-week moving average

• Your band on the portal is not calculated from today's headcount alone. It runs on a **26-week moving average**, roughly six months of history.

• What that means in practice:

• A national hire today moves your average incrementally, not instantly
• A national departure hurts for weeks after they leave
• Short-term fixes that revert do not sustain a band change
• Plan compliance as a trajectory, not a single transaction

• When you model hires, project forward week by week. The [workforce quota calculator](/workforce-quota-calculator) shows a 26-week trajectory so you can see when a planned hire actually moves your band.

Micro-establishments: the simplified rule

• If your establishment has **fewer than six total employees**, the full weighted formula does not apply. The requirement simplifies to **at least one national on payroll.**

• Once you reach six employees the standard calculation kicks in. Plan ahead, because crossing that threshold shifts your obligations overnight.

Profession-specific quotas: a separate calculation

• Your entity-level percentage and band are one gate. **Profession-specific quotas** are another.

• Administrative support, HR, sales, marketing, engineering, pharmacy, and other roles carry their own floors that tighten on a phased schedule through 2028. You can be green at entity level and still non-compliant for a specific profession.

• Check both: your entity band on the labour portal, and profession quota status for every role you fill with expatriates.

Calculators versus the portal: what to trust

• No third-party tool replaces the portal. Calculators answer "if I hire three nationals at full credit, where am I in 26 weeks?" The portal answers "where am I right now?"

• Use the [workforce quota calculator](/workforce-quota-calculator) for planning. Confirm on the portal before issuing contracts or visa requests.

Common calculation mistakes

• **Counting unregistered employees.** Only employees registered for social insurance and documented on the labour portal count. Informal arrangements do not move your percentage.

• **Ignoring salary weighting.** Twelve nationals on paper at SAR 2,500 contribute zero weighted credit. You can believe you are compliant and still sit in red.

• **Using a snapshot instead of a trajectory.** Today's headcount is not your band. Model the 26-week average before you celebrate or panic.

• **Forgetting profession quotas.** A green entity band does not mean every seat is compliant. Audit role-level quotas separately.

• **Treating calculator output as official.** Directional estimates help you plan. The portal is the only number that counts for compliance.

What to do with your number

• Once you know your actual percentage, required percentage, and estimated band:

1. **Verify on the portal**, comparing your estimate with the official band
2. **Calculate hires to green**, meaning how many full-credit nationals move your 26-week average above the medium green threshold
3. **Check profession quotas** and identify roles where expatriate headcount creates separate risk
4. **Plan sourcing**, because compliance hires still have to do the job. Source and evaluate with the same rigour as any critical role

• For the full compliance picture, read the [2026 employer guide to workforce quotas in Saudi Arabia](/spaces/workforce-quotas-saudi-arabia-2026-guide). For regional context, see [/compliance](/compliance).

• Weight your headcount, compare with your sector target, account for the 26-week average, and verify on the portal. That is the calculation, and it is the number that decides whether you can keep hiring tomorrow.