Saudi Arabia Logistics Workforce in 2026: Is There a Retention Problem and What Should Employers Do?

Key takeaways

• Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector is expanding, increasing demand for a workforce that can support continued growth.
• Current evidence points to workforce and skills pressure rather than a clearly documented nationwide logistics retention crisis.
• Employees’ perception of alternative opportunities can make retention more challenging, particularly when compensation and career progression are not competitive.
• Logistics employers increasingly need to plan around skills, not just headcount, as technology and supply-chain requirements evolve.
• Saudization is becoming more closely connected to workforce planning, training and succession.
• Employers can strengthen retention through competitive recruitment, clearer career pathways, workforce development and continuous measurement.

Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector is continuing to expand as the Kingdom invests in transport infrastructure, supply chains and the wider goals of Vision 2030.

The scale of activity is already visible in the latest official statistics. In 2024, more than 290 million orders were completed through licensed delivery applications, an increase of 27.2% from the previous year.

The number of active Saudi drivers also rose to more than 140,000, while non-Saudi drivers exceeded 302,000. The number of activated logistics centres reached 23. GASTAT’s 2024 Warehousing and Logistics Statistics show how quickly the sector is developing.

For employers, however, these growths have created some questions: is the workforce growing at the same pace? Are Saudi businesses likely to face a logistics workforce retention crisis?

The available evidence does not support describing it as a formally established nationwide crisis. It does, however, point to a combination of workforce and skills pressures that can make attracting and retaining employees more difficult.

Beyond the challenge of finding more employees, logistics companies also need people with the right skills, competitive employment propositions and clearer development paths. At the same time, Saudization is changing how companies plan and develop their workforce.

Is Saudi Arabia facing a logistics workforce retention crisis?

There is an important distinction between a retention crisis and a labour market in which retention is becoming more challenging.

Current evidence does not show that Saudi logistics employees are leaving their employers at an exceptional or industry-wide rate. In fact, sector-specific data from the Human Resources Development Fund (HRDF) provides a more balanced picture.

HRDF reported that its strategic partnership with Saudi Arabia’s transport and logistics sector contributed to the employment of 74,000 Saudi citizens between 2020 and the first half of 2025. The retention rate among HRDF-supported employees in the sector reached 78%.

That figure provides an important counterpoint to the idea of a universal retention collapse.

At the same time, however, other workforce research suggests that employees have considerable mobility.

Korn Ferry’s 2025 Saudi Arabia workforce research found that 80% of surveyed employees were willing to switch jobs for better pay, while three in five said they could easily find another role.

What’s more, Gallup’s 2026 State of the Global Workplace provides another indication of the labour-market environment. Based on 2025 data, 77% of employees in Saudi Arabia said it was a good time to find a job in their local area, up from 72% in 2024. This measures perceptions of the job market rather than an intention to resign, so it should not be treated as a direct turnover measure.

Taken together, these findings suggest that employers are operating in a labour market where employees may have more confidence in their ability to move.

For logistics businesses, that can make retention more difficult when competitors offer higher pay, clearer progression or a better overall employment proposition.

Why retention is becoming part of the logistics workforce challenge

Several factors are bringing retention closer to the centre of workforce planning in Saudi logistics.

Compensation remains important

Pay remains one of the clearest reasons employees consider changing jobs.

Korn Ferry’s Saudi Arabia research found that better pay was a major driver of job switching. This matters in logistics because employers are competing for workers across a market that is expanding beyond traditional transport roles.

A logistics employer may therefore lose an experienced employee not because the person is dissatisfied with the industry, but because another company offers a more attractive package.

This creates a difficult cycle. Employers increase pay to fill vacancies, competitors respond, and existing employees begin comparing their packages against what is available elsewhere.

Career progression can influence retention

Compensation alone does not explain the entire retention challenge.

Employees also want to understand where a role can lead. In logistics, this is particularly relevant as operational positions increasingly connect with technology, analytics, automation, compliance and supply-chain planning.

A warehouse or transport employee who can see a pathway into supervision, planning, technology-enabled operations or management has a clearer reason to build a long-term career with the organisation.

The opposite can also be true. When employees see limited development opportunities, external offers can become more attractive.

This is one reason retention should be considered alongside workforce development rather than treated as a separate HR activity.

Logistics skills are changing

The skills required by Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector are also evolving.

The Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s Logistics Services and Transportation Sector Skills Dictionary maps technical skills across air, maritime and land transport and links them to relevant job families and proficiency levels.

This reflects a wider shift in logistics toward more specialised capabilities.

Digital systems, data, automation, forecasting, warehouse management, transport management and supply-chain analytics are becoming increasingly relevant alongside traditional operational expertise.

That creates a second workforce challenge: employers are not simply trying to retain the people they already have. They also need to help existing employees develop the capabilities that future logistics operations will require.

How is the workforce challenge affecting Saudi logistics employers?

The consequences extend beyond recruitment.

Workforce planning becomes more important

A logistics company that only forecasts the number of people it will need may miss a more important question: which capabilities will it need?

Workforce planning needs to consider expected growth, turnover, localisation requirements, skills development and succession.

This is where workforce planning in the GCC becomes particularly relevant for employers operating across a changing regional labour market.

Recruitment can become more competitive

When employees have confidence in their ability to move, employers may have less time to convert a suitable candidate.

Long approval processes, unclear job descriptions and slow communication can make recruitment more difficult even when a suitable candidate is available.

The issue is therefore not simply the number of candidates in the market. It is also how effectively an employer can identify, assess and secure the right people.

Training becomes part of workforce strategy

The changing skills requirements of logistics create another pressure.

Employers can recruit externally every time a new capability is required, but that approach may become expensive and difficult to sustain.

Developing existing employees can create another route.

Training, mentoring, internal mobility and structured progression can help employers build capabilities while giving employees a clearer reason to stay.

Retention affects operational continuity

Employee turnover can also create pressure on teams that are already operating at capacity.

When experienced employees leave, their responsibilities may be redistributed while replacements are recruited and trained.

In logistics, where timing and operational consistency matter, repeated turnover can therefore have effects beyond the HR function.

How Saudization is changing logistics workforce planning

Workforce localisation is another reason employers need to think about logistics talent more strategically.

In June 2026, the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development confirmed the implementation of a 70% Saudization rate for 12 procurement professions, effective 31 May 2026.

The covered occupations include Procurement Manager, Contracts Manager, Warehouse Keeper, Logistics Services Manager, Warehouse Manager, Procurement Specialist and Warehouse Specialist, among others.

The decision applies to establishments with three or more workers in the targeted professions.

This is directly relevant to logistics employers because several of the covered occupations sit close to logistics and supply-chain operations.

There is also a separate 2026 decision covering 69 administrative-support professions subject to 100% Saudization under the relevant classifications.

A logistics company may therefore need to ask:

• Which roles are affected by current localisation requirements?
• Which employees are approaching succession or retirement risk?
• Which capabilities need to be developed among Saudi employees?
• Where can internal mobility support localisation?
• Which roles may require external recruitment?
• What training needs to happen before future workforce requirements arrive?

A clear approach to Saudization and workforce localization can help connect these questions to longer-term workforce planning.

What are recruiters and HR specialists recommending?

The recommendations emerging from workforce and recruitment research are relatively consistent: employers need to compete on more than a job title and salary.

Benchmark compensation before retention becomes a problem

Regular market benchmarking can help employers identify where critical roles have become less competitive.

Waiting until an employee has another offer can limit the options available to the employer.

Shorten the hiring process

Once a suitable candidate enters the hiring process, unnecessary delays can create avoidable losses.

Clear approval processes, defined decision-making responsibilities and faster communication can make it easier to secure candidates while interest is still high.

Make career progression visible

Employees should have a clearer understanding of what development can look like inside the organisation.

That does not mean promising promotions that cannot be delivered. It means showing employees which skills, experience and performance are required to progress.

Connect recruitment with development

External recruitment should not be the only way to acquire new capabilities.

Companies can combine hiring with structured learning, mentoring and internal mobility so that employees can develop into future roles.

Saudi Arabia’s national skills infrastructure also makes this easier to approach systematically. The Ministry’s skills framework is designed to create a common language around occupational skills and support workforce planning, training and development.

Strengthen the role of managers

Managers have a direct influence on the day-to-day employee experience.

Korn Ferry’s 2025 workforce research found that 80% of workers surveyed said they would stay in a job because they have a manager they trust.

For logistics employers, this is particularly relevant because employees may experience the organisation primarily through their immediate manager rather than through corporate HR policies.

Managers therefore need to be equipped to have meaningful conversations about performance, development and career progression.

Look beyond salary

A competitive salary can help attract employees, but it may not be enough to retain them over time.

Employees can also place value on development, recognition, stability, management quality and the broader workplace experience.

That makes non-monetary rewards and employee motivation relevant to a wider retention strategy.

What can Saudi logistics employers do now?

The response does not need to begin with a major transformation programme.

Employers can start with five practical steps.

1. Audit the current workforce

Map the workforce by:

• headcount
• role
• tenure
• nationality
• skills
• turnover
• vacancy duration
• succession risk
• localisation requirements

2. Identify retention risks

Not every employee or role carries the same replacement risk.

Employers can identify positions where losing an experienced employee would create a disproportionate operational impact.

The next step is to understand why those employees might leave.

Is the issue compensation? Career progression? Management? Workload? Development? Or a combination of factors?

3. Build internal talent pipelines

Training should connect directly to future workforce requirements.

That could include:

• structured onboarding
• mentoring
• internal rotations
• professional certifications
• technical training
• leadership development
• succession planning

For Saudi employees in particular, development pathways can help employers connect localisation with long-term capability building.

4. Review the employee proposition

Retention also depends on the experience employees have after joining.

Recognition, manager quality, flexibility where operationally possible, workload management, learning opportunities and a sense of progression can all influence whether employees see the organisation as somewhere worth building a career.

For employers looking at these issues across compensation, structure, employee experience, skills and compliance at the same time, a HR consulting firm in the Middle East can provide a broader framework for connecting those areas rather than treating each issue separately.

5. Measure retention continuously

Annual turnover alone provides limited insight.

A stronger workforce dashboard could include:

• time-to-fill
• offer acceptance rate
• 30-, 60- and 90-day attrition
• regrettable attrition
• internal mobility
• counter-offer losses
• training completion
• employee progression
• critical-role vacancy duration
• localisation progress

These measures allow HR and business leaders to identify workforce problems earlier.

They also help connect recruitment and retention to operational planning.

In conclusion

Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector is expanding, but employers are navigating a more demanding workforce environment. Employee mobility, changing skills requirements, workforce localisation and competition for capable people are making attraction and retention increasingly important parts of logistics workforce planning.

Frequently asked questions

Is there a logistics workforce shortage in Saudi Arabia?

Saudi Arabia’s logistics sector is expanding, and employers face a combination of workforce growth, skills-development and localisation requirements. However, the available evidence does not establish a single nationwide logistics workforce shortage or retention crisis. The more defensible description is a growing workforce-planning challenge.

Is employee retention becoming a problem for Saudi logistics companies?

Retention is becoming an important workforce-planning consideration, but current evidence does not show that logistics employees are leaving at a universally exceptional rate. HRDF reported a 78% retention rate among employees it supported in the transport and logistics sector through the first half of 2025.

Why are employees changing jobs in Saudi Arabia?

Compensation is one factor. Korn Ferry’s 2025 Saudi workforce research found that 80% of surveyed employees were willing to switch jobs for better pay. The same research also identified benefits, growth, purpose and long-term stability as relevant considerations.

How is Saudization affecting logistics workforce planning?

Saudization is increasing the need for employers to connect recruitment with workforce development, succession planning and skills-building. The 2026 localisation requirements covering several procurement and logistics-related occupations make this particularly relevant for affected employers.

How can logistics companies improve employee retention?

Employers can start by benchmarking compensation, improving recruitment speed, making career progression clearer, strengthening management, investing in employee development and tracking retention indicators beyond annual turnover.