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Oct 28, 2025
The Saudi Skills TaxonomyWhat is the Saudi Skills Taxonomy?The Saudi Skills Taxonomy is a structured classification system that systematically links occupations with their associated skills, tasks, and educational requirements. It functions as a foundation for monitoring labor market dynamics, informing evidence-based workforce and education policies, and enhancing coordination between labor supply and demand to support a more resilient and responsive labor market.The Saudi Skills Taxonomy is a key pillar of the Ministry of Human Resources and Social Development’s Labor Market Strategy. Drawing on international best practices, it offers a unified skills language that facilitates clear communication and integration among all stakeholders—employers, educators, individuals, and government entities.As a national competency framework, the taxonomy provides a structured basis for continuously detailing, refining, and updating the relationships between skills, sectors, and occupations. It supports the work of Skill Sector Councils, enabling them to define sector-specific standards, learning outcomes, and assessment criteria, ensuring alignment with real labor market needs. This dynamic structure allows the taxonomy to evolve alongside emerging trends, technologies, and workforce priorities.As the cornerstone of all future skills-related initiatives, the taxonomy promotes lifelong learning and supports a culture of continuous development. It ensures consistency with national strategies and supports the implementation of coherent, future-focused policies in labor and education.Is this taxonomy final? This platform offers a mature and up-to-date taxonomy, built to reflect the current labor market.But a skills taxonomy is a living system that evolves with the labor market. As industries transform, new technologies emerge, and workforce needs shift, the taxonomy will continue to grow and adapt. It is designed to capture those changes by inviting input from all stakeholders — whether you’re an employer, educator, policymaker, or jobseeker. Your insights help ensure that the taxonomy remains accurate, relevant, and reflective of real-world skill demands.Each occupation listed includes the option to provide feedback through an AI-enabled mechanism, making it easy to share suggestions, flag gaps, or validate skill relevance. Your insights help ensure the taxonomy stays accurate, current, and aligned with the realities of the labor market.How was this taxonomy developed?The taxonomy is rooted in the Saudi Standard Classification of Occupations (USOC or SSCO), issued by the General Authority for Statistics, providing a strong national foundation. Building on this, the taxonomy was expanded and enriched by studying international best practices in occupational and skills classification — including frameworks and guidelines developed by leading global institutions such as the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the World Bank.To ensure both global relevance and local applicability, it integrates international knowledge on skills, tasks, and qualifications with insights from national education systems and labor market data. The work by the Sector Skill Councils played a vital role in localising the framework, aligning it with real-world workforce needs across sectors.What is the purpose of the Saudi Skills Taxonomy?1. Establishing a common language for coding and describing skills at local, regional, and international levels.2. Building an integrated core system for occupations and skills and its uses in workforce planning and development.3. Defining all skills in the Saudi labor market, facilitating the processing of its data, and preparing a mechanism for future updates.4. Enhancing the journey of lifelong learning, career growth and career paths for all sectors of the labor market.5. Assessing skill gaps and aligning education and training outcomes with the current and future needs of the labor market.