The most in-demand talent market is also the most overlooked one. One market, all signs, and no noise at all.

We didn’t expect it either.

But after combing through thousands of job listings, financial fillings of key players, and labor reports, a clear pattern emerged… one we couldn’t ignore. Demand is everywhere—but local hiring infrastructure is still underdeveloped. Most companies either rely on generic tools or go through agencies and service providers. Building an independent, scalable hiring motion for engineering talent remains difficult.

It started as a pain point we had, turned into a scoring model, and evolved into a comprehensive research initiatives we’ve run to date. We analyzed 15,000+ live job listings on LinkedIn, dug through IPO prospectuses of major players in the market, reviewed sector-specific labor forecasts, parsed investment banking memos, and dissected financial statements and equity research from major players in the hiring and staffing space.

And what we found was a market being actively overlooked by the industry, despite being critical to every modern company’s roadmap.

This is the story of how we found the signal, followed it, and made one of our biggest bets yet.

But for you to get the motivation behind the research, you need to understand why verticality is engrained in what we do:

Why Building Vertically is a Winning Strategy

There’s always pressure to go broad—serve every customer, every use case, every industry. But in complex domains —like hiring—, breadth often comes at the cost of depth.

Vertical focus flips that equation.

Not all problems can be solved with generalist tools. Some require context: role-specific workflows, industry norms, and deeper operational understanding. That’s where vertical strategies shine.

They let teams build with precision, prioritize what matters, and design solutions that feel tailored—not templated. They also ground product decisions in real-world patterns, not abstract assumptions.

Going vertical isn’t about doing less. It’s about doing what matters better.

The Analysis That Shaped the Move

Before making any directional call, we mapped the landscape…very thoroughly.

We built a multi-layered discovery process to pressure test assumptions and expose opportunity. Deep-level data to uncover vertical-level dynamics: demand shape, talent availability, hiring patterns, and market gaps.

Here’s what that process included:

• 15,000+ live job listings pulled from LinkedIn, parsed and categorized by function

• Direct input from hiring partners—cleaned, grouped, and reclassified for accuracy

• Pre-IPO prospectuses and investment memos from major players in the manpower space

• Financial statements and equity reports to understand vertical-level revenue mixes

• Labor market forecasts and turnover data sourced from national-level employment reports

• Sector-specific growth outlooks from national strategy documents and workforce acceleration programs

Our scoring model compared 27+ signals across four verticals—spanning job volume, turnover, hiring behavior, talent depth, sourcing friction, and competitive whitespace.

We focused on markets with steady, recurring demand. Where hiring is active, but the support around it hasn’t fully scaled.

1. Demand (Weight: High)

How frequently are companies hiring for this role, and how many do they typically need?

We evaluated:

• Volume of active roles across job platforms like LinkedIn (Are companies actively hiring?)

• Turnover rates by job type (Are companies frequently hiring?)

• Average number of hires per company (Do companies hire a lot for this role?)

We gave Demand the highest weight in our model, because consistent, team-based hiring is the foundation of sustainable vertical expansion.

2. Supply (Weight: High)

Is there a deep and renewable talent pool to support ongoing hiring?

We analyzed:

• Current market size by job function (Are there a lot of applicants?)

• Annual inflow from universities, academies, bootcamps, and retraining programs (Does that pool get replenished periodically?)

• Talent reachability through sourcing channels and partnerships (Is the pool accessible easily?)

A strong demand function without the ability to fulfill it at scale doesn’t translate to outcomes. Supply matters just as much, so it carried equal weight.

3. Go-to-Market Time (Weight: Medium)

How fast, and how effectively, can we operate in this space?

Some roles have clear taxonomies and existing sourcing infrastructure. Others are ambiguous or fragmented. We looked at:

• Standardization and clarity of job roles across companies

• Availability of talent networks, tooling, and sourcing systems

• Operational complexity involved in launching the vertical

Speed matters. Especially when the opportunity window is open now, not later.

4. Obtainable Market (Weight: Medium)

Can we realistically create value here, or is the space already locked up?

We assessed:

• Competitive saturation based on financial statements and revenue mix of major staffing and outsourcing players

• The presence (or absence) of vertical focus across major players in the market

• Sector-level growth outlooks and talent investment at a national level

While it carried a medium weight in the model, market opportunity still matters, and we used this pillar to validate whether the market could absorb a new, specialized player. After all, we offer a premium platform that we need to operate; so strategically, ensuring company growth is essential

Each vertical was scored across these four pillars, creating a full picture of opportunity, friction, and fit.

To structure the comparison, each pillar was weighted by strategic importance: high-impact factors were given a weight of 3, medium-impact 2, and low-impact 1. So without further ado…

Pillar 1: Demand

(Weight: High)

We began with the verticals most requested by our hiring partners: Software Engineering, HR, Civil Engineering, and Project Management. These four emerged as top priorities based on sheer volume of requests (both from our clients and externally) across industries.

From there, we ran a deeper analysis to understand how demand behaves in each one. Job volume alone wasn’t enough. We needed to see how often these roles are filled, how many are hired per company, and how consistent that demand is across sectors.

• How frequently the role is hired

• How many people are typically needed

• How stable demand is across different industries

To assess this, we broke demand down into three signals:

1.1 Demand size

We analyzed over 15,000 live roles on LinkedIn and categorized them across job functions.

Here’s what the raw counts showed among the shortlisted verticals:

• Software Development: 868 active roles

• Civil Engineering: 629

• Project Management: 585

• Human Resources: 129

One vertical has clear lead volume. This superiority echoed in every job board we dissected, which indicates a market trend.

Moreover, national reports from both governmental and non-governmental entities echo a similar pattern.

• According to a the KSA Occupations Report by the NLO (National Labor Observatory), in the top 15 occupations for job postings there are several IT-related occupations. Among them are back-end developer, security operations center analyst, cyber security manager, and data scientists.

  • Other ones were HR and environmental jobs.

• According to Misk’s Saudi Jobs Market Needs Assessment (2020), tech-related roles dominate job market demand, with high needs for software developers, cybersecurity experts, data analysts, application developers, and data scientists across multiple industries.

• According to Aljazirah’s pre-IPO report of Tamkeen, a major player in the manpower industry, the IT vertical within the manpower industry is growing fastest, with its demand being fueled by the kingdom’s ongoing push for digital literacy.

• Tamkeen’s IPO prospectus echoes the same insights, stating that it’s currently the fastest growing vertical within the manpower industry.

1.2 Turnover Rate by Role

Why turnover? Because the more often companies rehire for a role, the more repeatable the hiring motion, and the stronger the opportunity to drive value at scale.

Based on an industry report from Praisidio:

• Software Development: 15.13% turnover

• HR: 10.31%

• Civil Engineering: 7.57%

• Project Management: (no official data, but qualitative insights suggest lower external churn due to largely being based on internal promotions and its high career stability)

Software Development showed not only the highest hiring volume, but the highest churn rate as well, suggesting faster hiring cycles and greater need for constant sourcing.

1.3 Role Density Per Company

We also asked: when companies hire for this role, are they hiring one person, or building a team?

Here’s what the research showed:

• Software Development: According to Ask Wonder, a leading research firm, SMEs in Asia employ 9 developers on average per company

• Civil Engineering: According to a survey conducted by IDEA StatiCa, Civil Engineering firms on average have 5 engineer.

• HR: According to a Bloomberg HR Analysis report, companies need roughly 1.4 officers for every 100 employees.

• Project Management: Typically 1 per initiative, often through internal promotions

Software Development showed the highest role density per company. Hiring in this vertical tends to support full team buildouts, often spanning multiple roles and specialties within the same organization.

However, due to recent developments in the field, some companies are having less appetite to hire software engineers with the same volume due to the increase of productivity in the advent of AI toolings.

Anyhow, that doesn’t mean that the forecasted decrease in demand is going to change the order of the roles’ density per company, so Software Engineering is still likely to come out as the winner.

Finally, we’re certain that, in the professional scene, software engineering hiring is not going anywhere soon, as utilizing AI tooling to build robust systems still required highly-specialized software engineers; more on this topic in a future publication. ;)

Demand Verdict:

Software Engineering has:

• The highest job volume

• The fastest hiring cycle

• Team-based structures, not one-off roles

Pillar 2: Supply

(Weight: High)

Once we understood where demand was concentrated, we turned our focus to whether that demand could be met, at quality, and at scale.

Raw headcount only tells part of the story. We focused on whether the talent pool was deep, actively growing, and accessible through scalable sourcing methods.

2.1 Talent Pool Size

We started with a market sizing exercise across each vertical.

• Software Development:

  • Estimated ~126,000 developers currently employed in Saudi Arabia

    • According to the Oxford Business Group, the Kingdom’s ICT workforce stands at ~300,000 professionals

    • According to Qubit Labs, 42% of IT professionals worldwide are Software Developers

    • Applying that benchmark locally: 42% × 300,000 gives us 126,000 Software Developers

  • While an estimate, this aligns with the scale of national tech initiatives and developer program outputs

• Human Resources:

  • Estimated 113,680 HR professionals

    • Derived by applying the global benchmark of 1.4 HR officers per 100 employees (Oracle)

    • We calculated based on 8.12 million employees working in the public sector, semi-government, and mid-to-large private firms (per National Labor Observatory data)

    • Applying the global benchmark of 1.4-to-100 ratio, 8.12M × 1.4% gives us 113,680 HR officers.

  • Small firms were excluded from this market sizing as most small firms do not have a specialized HR officer

  • It’s worth noting that according to Zippia, the majority of HR officers (~83%) are employed in large enterprises, limiting access for scalable hiring platforms.

• Civil Engineering:

  • ~48,762 certified civil/structural engineers, per the Saudi Council of Engineers

  • A solid professional base, but relatively fixed, and concentrated in specific firms and contract networks

• Project Management:

  • No definitive headcount available, however there’s 41,325 PMP holders in Saudi Arabia.

  • Most staffing movement occurs through internal promotions, not external hiring

2.2 Talent Inflow

Next, we looked at how quickly new talent is entering each market.

• Software Development:

  • Based on National Labor Observatory graduation data, ~12,200 ICT graduates enter the workforce annually

  • Applying the aforementioned 42% developer benchmark, that gives us ~5,120 new developers per year

  • Supplemented by high-output national academies like:

    • Tuwaiq Academy (32,000+ tech trainees graduated)

    • Apple Developer Academy

    • Saudi Digital Academy

    • Other public-private bootcamps and re-skilling programs

  • This creates a renewable and diversified pipeline of talent

• Civil Engineering:

  • Primarily driven by traditional university programs

  • No visible large-scale retraining or accelerated pathways comparable to tech academies

• HR:

  • No dedicated pipeline accelerators or sourcing hubs

  • Most talent enters via standard undergrad business programs or internal mobility

• Project Management:

  • Minimal structured inflow

  • Roles often evolve from internal career progression—not external talent sourcing

2.3 Talent Reachability

Finally, we assessed how easy it is to access the supply digitally, at scale.

• Software Development:

  • Highly reachable through GitHub, LinkedIn, portfolio platforms, bootcamp alumni networks, and national training partners

  • Easily engaged through scalable, platform-based sourcing

• HR:

  • Sourcing is fragmented

  • Majority of candidates reside in large, often less mobile organizations

  • Few centralized programs or active digital communities focused on HR talent

• Civil Engineering:

  • Sourcing generally tied to firms, contractor networks, or personal referrals

  • Limited digital sourcing infrastructure

  • Few active or publicly visible pipelines at scale

• Project Management:

  • One of the least reachable roles externally

  • According to the IPO prospectus of Al Mawarid — a leading player in the manpower industry — staffing for project management roles presents considerable difficulties due to supply constraints, given the advanced skills required

Supply Verdict

Software Development stood out not just for its size, but for how cleanly and consistently its supply is structured and surfaced

Pillar 3: Go-to-Market Time

(Weight: Medium)

This pillar was about execution: how quickly a vertical can be entered and served at quality.

We looked at how well-defined each role is across the market, how mature the sourcing channels are, and how much operational lift would be required to stand up a repeatable hiring motion.

3.1 Software Development

• Role structure: Despite the size of the function, Software Development roles tend to be clearly segmented—Frontend, Backend, Mobile, DevOps, QA—with well-documented expectations across the ecosystem. Yet, there’s no doubt that these roles frequently do overlap; such that a Backend Engineer might be responsible for deploying a newly developed software service alongside a DevOps engineers in an organization.

• Sourcing readiness: Candidates exist in organized, digital-first ecosystems. Sourcing can be activated quickly through GitHub, bootcamp partnerships, academic institutions, and assessment platforms that already serve the market.

3.2 Human Resources

• Role structure: HR is relatively standardized, especially compared to more fragmented technical roles. Titles like HR Generalist, HRBP, and Talent Acquisition tend to carry consistent meaning.

• Sourcing readiness: While supply is strong, sourcing is more nuanced. A large portion of HR professionals are embedded in larger organizations, and mobility across company sizes is limited. According to the National Labor Observatory’s Labor Force Snapshot Report, only 43.44% of employees in large enterprises transitioned to smaller companies during 2023–2024.

3.3 Civil Engineering

• Role structure: Civil is a deeply technical field with specialized scopes—structural, architectural, site, etc..— that can vary significantly depending on project type and firm size.

• Sourcing readiness: Sourcing is viable through project-based contract cycles and partnerships with engineering services companies. However, according to GIB Capital’s equity research report on a major player within the industry, staffing in the broader construction space within KSA is heavily skewed toward blue-collar roles, not white-collar engineering roles.

3.4 Project Management

• Role structure: PM roles vary considerably between industries and company stages. While the title is common, the underlying responsibilities often differ, making standardized sourcing more complex.

• Sourcing readiness: Project Management roles are frequently filled through internal promotion paths, with limited external hiring. According to reports from EconStor and prospectuses of major staffing firms, this vertical is consistently flagged as one of the highest-friction areas in talent sourcing—primarily due to the complexity of role expectations and the difficulty of assessing candidates externally.

Go-to-Market Verdict

• Software Development was the only vertical with:

  • Clear, standardized roles

  • Plug-and-play access to talent ecosystems

  • Infrastructure to scale without a long operational ramp-up

Pillar 4: Obtainable Market

(Weight: Medium)

Even with strong demand, deep supply, and fast GTM potential, one final question remained:

Can we realistically create value here, or has the market already been captured?

We focused on whether the market was open, large enough to matter, and still under-served enough for a new, specialized player to create real traction.

4.1 Competitive Saturation

We reviewed financial statements, equity research, and IPO prospectuses from the Kingdom’s leading manpower firms. The goal: understand where revenue is already flowing, and where whitespace still exists.

Here’s how the market is currently distributed:

*Numbers taken from several Alrajhi equity research reports

Key insights:

• Construction dominates, but focus is heavily blue-collar, leaving little opportunity for white-collar roles like Civil Engineering

• HR is present but largely absent from revenue mixes, suggesting lack of vertical focus.

• Software Development, despite being one of the most demanded verticals, contributes just 1.4% of total manpower market revenue. This gap is partly explained by the rise of outsourcing and remote-first hiring—but it also reflects the limitations of traditional staffing firms. Most aren’t equipped to serve high-skill technical roles, which require specialized acquisition teams and vertical-specific expertise.

• Project Management is sparsely covered and widely acknowledged as difficult to serve

4.2 Market Size and CAGR

We then looked at absolute size and growth potential of each vertical, focusing on staffing-relevant segments:

*Figures pulled from Tamkeen’s pre-IPO report from Alrajhi Capital

Key notes:

• Software Development is currently the fastest-growing vertical, with 22.6% CAGR in FY2023

• The current market size (~254M SAR) may seem modest, but that’s precisely the point—it’s structurally underserved despite growth signals from every national agenda

• Construction’s growth is real, but concentrated in low-skilled labor segments according to Almawarid’s IPO prospectus

• HR and PM have uncertain or plateauing growth, with little evidence of platform-led acceleration

Obtainable Market Verdict

• Software Development is one of the largest talent demand verticals, but remains dramatically under-penetrated in staffing

• National programs are actively pushing growth in this space, yet incumbent platforms have barely touched it

• With the right positioning, the opportunity is both accessible and expandable

5. The Verdict: The Vertical We’re Building Into

After weeks of structured analysis, one vertical consistently outperformed the rest—across all four pillars:

• Highest demand volume and turnover

• Deepest and most renewable talent pool

• Fastest, cleanest go-to-market pathway

• Clear whitespace in a high-growth, low-penetration market

Software Development outperformed every other vertical. It showed the strongest signals across demand, supply, go-to-market speed, and market opportunity, making it the most compelling and strategically sound direction by every measure.

Despite being one of the most talked-about roles in modern business, it remains one of the least served by staffing platforms in the Kingdom.

This move targets one of the Kingdom’s fastest-growing markets, where demand keeps rising, but the hiring infrastructure hasn’t followed.

What This Unlocks

This move opens up a new way to solve one of the most persistent challenges in the Kingdom’s hiring landscape: how to consistently place high-skill, high-demand talent where it’s needed most.

By entering software development, we unlock:

• Deeper strategic partnerships with national academies and governmental programs targeted towards enriching the ICT market

• The ability to build role-specific hiring infrastructure: from technical vetting workflows to sourcing models tuned to developer ecosystems

• A path toward smarter, data-led hiring in one of the Kingdom’s most in-demand and locally unserved markets.

• And above all, a chance to deliver real, measurable value in a space that needs it most

This move allows us to serve both the companies building the future, and the talent building it with them.

We’ve already seen early traction with hiring teams across governmental entities, fintech, logistics, SaaS, and consumer tech, and this is just the start.

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