Five terms in two sentences each
The market uses these words as if they meant the same thing, and they do not. The difference between them decides who the employer is, who manages the worker day to day, and which official channel governs the arrangement.
- Labor supply (providing labor services): a provider that has workers and offers their services to other companies for a fee, as its line of business. This is a licensed activity governed by the “Rules for practicing recruitment and providing labor services” issued by the Ministry of Human Resources, and only a licensed entity may carry it out.
- Leasing workers between companies (secondment): a company that temporarily has more workers than it needs makes them available to another company for a set period, and then they come back to it. The services of the Ajeer platform include seconding surplus workers and temporary work permits, and the Ministry ties secondment permits to the rules for outsourcing services, so make sure your arrangement falls within them (details below).
- Recruitment: bringing a new worker from outside Saudi Arabia on an employment contract with your company, through licensed recruitment offices and companies. Here the worker is your own employee.
- Outsourcing services: a company carries out for another company a service with a defined scope and period, managing and supervising its own workers itself, with payment tied to the outputs. It is governed by the rules for outsourcing through Ajeer (Ministerial Decision 60339), which apply from 25 January 2026, and under which the service contract is documented electronically on the platform.
- Subcontracting: a contractor commits to delivering part of the work with a defined result, and manages its own workers. You are buying a result, not working hours.
Comparison table
| Option | Original employer | Who manages the work day to day | Official channel | Usual period | What you pay for |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Labor supply | The licensed provider | Set by the contract | The Ministry’s license for the activity of providing labor services | As per the contract | The labor service |
| Leasing between two companies | The providing company | Set by the type of arrangement, and it decides the channel | To be confirmed before contracting: a suitable service on the Ajeer platform or a licensed provider | Temporary and defined | What the two companies agree |
| Recruitment | Your company | Your company | Licensed recruitment offices and companies | An employment contract | Recruitment costs and wages |
| Outsourcing services | The company providing the service | The company providing the service | A service contract documented on the Ajeer platform (Decision 60339) | Per the service contract | The specific service and its outputs |
| Subcontracting | The contractor | The contractor | A subcontract | Per scope of work | The delivered result |
The rules for outsourcing through Ajeer: what they cover and what they do not
The “Rules regulating the outsourcing of services between companies through the Ajeer program” were issued by Ministerial Decision 60339 on 6/5/1447 AH, and apply from 6/8/1447 AH, corresponding to 25 January 2026. Their page on the Ministry of Human Resources website describes the services they regulate as carried out “under the direct supervision of the company providing the service”, and ties the secondment permits on Ajeer to them. The first article of the text of the rules distinguishes between two models:
- Internal outsourcing of services: a service with a defined scope and period, in which the providing company manages its own workers, with payment tied to the outputs. This is what the rules were made to regulate.
- Internal outsourcing of manpower: the worker works under the supervision of the receiving company, with payment tied to hours or work rates.
So if the worker will work under your company’s supervision for a monthly payment, that is not what these rules describe, and we have not verified that another route for it exists on Ajeer. The two companies should therefore confirm the right channel before contracting: a service on the Ajeer platform that suits their arrangement, after asking the platform or the Ministry, or a licensed labor services provider.
The rules’ conditions also include that both companies are entered in the commercial register or licensed (Article 3), the worker’s consent unless their employment contract provides for it (Article 4), that the worker works in their licensed profession, and that the work does not start before the permit is issued (Articles 4 and 10).
When each option fits
- Leasing between two companies: your project needs ten welders for four months, and another company has finished its project and has welders. The arrangement is temporary, and the workers are already inside Saudi Arabia. Before contracting, decide who will supervise them, because that decides the official channel.
- Supply from a licensed provider: you need recurring numbers all year round, or professions you cannot find at a single company, and you want one party to deal with.
- Recruitment: the need is permanent, you want a worker who works for you for years, and you can wait for them to arrive.
- Outsourcing: you want a specific operational task done, such as cleaning or maintenance, under the supervision of the company that provides it.
- Subcontracting: you want part of the project delivered with a clear result, such as the electrical installations for a whole building.
Three examples that sum up the difference
A food factory needs packers for three months before Ramadan. It has three routes: contract a provider licensed to offer labor services, which supplies the number from its own workers; find a company that has packers with no work right now and use them once the two sides have confirmed the official channel for their arrangement; or recruit new workers, who will most likely not arrive before the season starts. The need here is temporary, so the first two options fit better.
A contractor wants the electrical installations for a whole building delivered. Here it needs a result more than it needs workers, so subcontracting to an electrical contractor is clearer: the subcontractor delivers the finished work and manages its own workers.
A facility management company needs cleaners for a shopping mall all year round. The need is permanent, and the task is a specific operational one. Outsourcing to a company that provides the service under its own supervision may suit it, or hiring and recruitment if it wants the team as its own employees.
Where Ajeerk fits in all this
Ajeerk is a classifieds platform between companies. Companies post “Workers for lease” and “Lease request” ads on it for free, and when someone requests contact, the Ajeerk team arranges the contact between the two sides. Ajeerk does not supply workers, does not recruit, does not issue permits, is not a government body, and has no relation to the government “Ajeer” platform. The arrangement itself, whatever its type, is made between the two companies through the right official channel.
Domestic workers are not here
Domestic workers and a family’s private driver have a different route: the “Musaned” platform for domestic support workers, licensed recruitment offices, and the Ministry of Human Resources service for leasing domestic worker services. Ajeerk is for leasing between companies and establishments only, and no domestic workers are offered on it.
A short glossary
- Transfer of services: a worker moving permanently to a new employer, which is not leasing.
- Ajeer permit: an electronic document that allows a worker to work for a specific company for a temporary period.
- Nitaqat: a company’s Saudization classification, which the eligibility for some permits depends on.
- Wage protection: the rules for paying wages, which remain the original employer’s duty.
- Licensed profession: the profession registered for the worker; a seconded worker works in that same profession.
- Qiwa and Nafath: you sign in to the Ajeer platform with a “Qiwa” account or through “Nafath”.