Pakistan Progressive Associates (PPA) helps Saudi employers hire skilled and semi-skilled workers from Pakistan. Since 1975 we have handled end-to-end recruitment and mobilisation across the Kingdom, from sourcing and trade testing through GAMCA medical, visa processing and deployment.
Licensed and operating since
OEP license
Overseas placements
Days, demand to deployment
Saudi industry runs on imported skilled labour. Foreign workers made up roughly 13.2 million of the Kingdom’s 17.2 million workforce, about 77 percent, by late 2024, and expatriates account for close to 80 percent of private-sector employment. When a construction programme in Riyadh, a shutdown in the Eastern Province or a facilities contract in Jeddah needs crews at short notice, the workforce is sourced from abroad, and Pakistan is the largest single supplier.
In 2024 Saudi Arabia was the top destination for Pakistani workers, taking around 452,562 people, more than 62 percent of everyone who left Pakistan for employment that year. More than 2.5 million Pakistanis already live and work in the Kingdom. For a Saudi employer, that depth means a large, project-tested talent pool in exactly the trades your sites run on.
We manage the complete hiring cycle so your team receives deployment-ready workers. For workforce at volume, see our manpower supply for Saudi Arabia. We recruit across the Kingdom, including Riyadh, Jeddah and Dammam. See our employer guides on hiring for the Gulf.
Typical time from demand to deployment is 21 to 45 days, depending on trade and volume.
Workforce across the sectors that drive Saudi hiring.
Site trades to supervision
Upstream to downstream
Hard and soft services
Operators to QC
Clinical and support
Front and back of house
PPA supplies the full technical hierarchy a Saudi project runs on, from degree-qualified engineers and project leadership through to certified skilled trades. We source to the specification an employer actually writes, not a generic labour pool.
A licensed promoter with a real screening advantage.
Saudi Arabia is the corridor PPA knows best. It is Pakistan’s number-one labour destination, and at roughly 24 percent of the country’s remittances in the 2025 fiscal year it is the single largest source of Pakistani worker earnings. Fifty years in this corridor means we run the exact attestation, GAMCA and Protector of Emigrants steps a Saudi hire depends on, not a pipeline built for one project.
Hiring foreign workers in the Kingdom sits inside three rules worth understanding before you raise a demand. Nitaqat is the Saudization programme administered by the Ministry of Human Resources; it places each company in a colour band based on how many Saudi nationals it employs relative to its size and sector, and your band governs how many new foreign work visas you can obtain. The Wage Protection System (WPS) requires salaries to be paid through monitored channels so that pay matches the registered contract. Foreign hires are made against an approved block visa quota tied to that band.
None of this is handled from Pakistan, but it shapes your timing and your visa headroom, so we plan around it. For the detail, read our employer guides on hiring for the Gulf.
The employer issues a demand and works with a licensed overseas employment promoter such as PPA, which sources and trade-tests candidates, arranges GAMCA medical and attestation, processes the work visa, and mobilises the selected workers.
Typically 21 to 45 days from demand to deployment, depending on the trade and the number of workers.
Yes. PPA has operated since 1975 and holds OEP License 0332/LHR from Pakistan’s Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment.
Construction, oil and gas, facilities management, manufacturing, healthcare and hospitality roles, from skilled trades to engineers and supervisors.
Indirectly. Nitaqat sets your Saudization band, and the band governs how many foreign work visas you can obtain. Once you have visa headroom against your block visa, PPA handles the entire Pakistan-side process to fill it.
It is the mandatory pre-departure medical for Gulf-bound workers, carried out at a GCC-approved medical centre. Every candidate we mobilise clears GAMCA before travel, and we coordinate the appointments.
The employer secures the block visa and issues the demand; PPA carries the Pakistan-side recruitment, attestation, medical and clearance. Fees and cost-sharing are agreed per contract before sourcing begins.
PPA stands behind every placement with a replacement guarantee. If a deployed worker leaves or is terminated within the first three months of joining, we source and present a suitable replacement at no additional service fee. Because candidates are trade-tested as part of the selection process, mismatches are rare to begin with.
Tell us the roles you need and receive a matched shortlist.
Sources: Foreign workers ~13.2m of ~17.2m workforce (GASTAT, 2024); expatriates ~80% of private-sector employment (Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development, 2024); Saudi Arabia the top destination for Pakistani workers in 2024, ~452,562 (Bureau of Emigration and Overseas Employment); 2.5m+ Pakistanis in the Kingdom and Saudi Arabia ~24% of Pakistan’s FY2025 remittances (State Bank of Pakistan). PPA figures are first-party.
+92 42 36369494
+92 42 36361361, 36302711
OEP License: 0332/LHR
57 mozang Road, Lahore, Pakistan
hr@ppa.com.pk
Pakistan Progressive Associates
Recruitment & Mobilization
Consultants – Since 1975
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