• Launch of 5th L’Oréal Professionnel Hairdressing Academy within new office premises, aiming to upskill hairdressers and certify over 1,000 women by 2029
• Acceleration of circularity agenda through expansion of refillable beauty formats across the Kingdom
• Dedicating over SAR 600,000 to provide training, education and employment opportunities for women in the sector
• Expanding its footprint in Saudi Arabia and doubling its workforce in 2026

Jeddah, Saudi Arabia May 18, 2026: L’Oréal Saudi Arabia inaugurated its new Jeddah office by hosting the second edition of the L’Oréal For the Future Summit, bringing together government representatives, sustainability experts and industry leaders to mark a new and ambitious phase in the group’s long-term commitment to Saudi Arabia, its people, and the planet.

The L’Oréal Groupe has been present in Saudi Arabia since 2012, and the opening of its new Jeddah office marks a significant milestone in the group’s broader expansion plans in the Kingdom. Aligned with Saudi Vision 2030, this growth reflects L’Oréal Saudi Arabia’s conviction that a responsible, locally anchored business is the only way to build for the long term. With the opening of the new office, L’Oréal Saudi Arabia is on track to double its local workforce by the end of 2026, including young Saudi talents. This commitment is backed by measurable impact: according to a socio-economic study by Asterès – published in September 2025 – L’Oréal’s value chain in Saudi Arabia supports 8,765 jobs, generates SAR 3.2 billion in total sales, and has reached more than 35,000 people through programmes focused on women’s empowerment, education and upskilling.

L’Oréal For the Future Summit

The summit highlighted two key areas of action: investing in skills and vocational training and advancing circularity through refillable beauty. Together, these priorities demonstrate L’Oréal’s integrated approach to doing business in the Kingdom: one that creates lasting value for communities while reducing environmental impact.

Investing in Skills and Employment

A key milestone announced at the summit is the launch of the fifth L’Oréal Professionnel Hairdressing Academy, housed in L’Oréal Saudi Arabia’s new Jeddah premises.  The Academy trains hairdressers and certifies Saudi women as professional hairstylists, with the aim to support employment and professional standards across Saudi Arabia’s growing beauty sector, while contributing to Saudization and women’s workforce participation goals.

The Academy builds on L’Oréal Professionnel’s ‘Hair Styling and Haircare Vocational Training Program’, held in partnership with leading universities across the Kingdom, including Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University and Effat University. Since its inception, the programme has successfully graduated 150 Saudi women, achieving a strong 71% employment rate.

Accredited by the Technical and Vocational Training Corporation (TVTC) and subsidised by the Human Resources Development Fund (HADAF), the programme aims to certify more than 1,000 women by 2029.

Beyond creating new career pathways through the Academy, L’Oréal is equally dedicated to elevating the Kingdom’s existing beauty industry standards. In 2025 alone, over 800 hairdressers across partner salons in Saudi Arabia were upskilled through more than 10,000 training hours by the L’Oréal Professionnel Institutes.

This comprehensive approach to skills development also reaches women seeking economic independence. Through its ‘Beauty for a Better Life’ programme, run in partnership with Education for Employment, the L’Oréal Foundation has dedicated over SAR 600,000 to provide training, education and employment opportunities for women seeking fulfilling careers in the sector, with 100 women expected to graduate in 2026.

Advancing Circularity

Refillable beauty was also a focus of this year’s summit, with L’Oréal expanding the availability of refillable products across the Kingdom.

Across beauty categories including makeup, skincare, haircare and fragrance, L’Oréal offers consumers the ability to refill and reuse their favourite products, reducing their environmental impact in a meaningful and measurable way. Fragrance formats such as the Prada Paradoxe refillable, for example, reduce material use by 44% glass, 67% plastic, 100% metals and 61% cardboard compared to standard formats.

These initiatives are part of the broader L’Oréal’s For the Future programme, which drives circularity through packaging innovation, retail partnerships and consumer engagement. Through joint sustainability roadmaps with retail partners, L’Oréal is increasing the availability and visibility of refillable and reusable products across the Kingdom. Today, 100% of L’Oréal’s Point-of-Sale Materials (POSM) are eco-designed; and the company works with suppliers to measure, report and optimize the CO2 footprint of the point-of-sale materials.

Laurent Duffier, Managing Director of L’Oréal Middle East and L’Oréal Saudi Arabia, said: “Saudi Arabia is one of the most dynamic and strategically important markets in the world, and our ambitions here are long-term. The opening of our new Jeddah office, the expansion of our Hairdressing Academy, and the continued growth of our team in the Kingdom are all expressions of the same conviction: that L’Oréal’s future in Saudi Arabia is built on deep partnership, genuine investment in people, and a shared commitment to a more responsible and inclusive beauty industry. We are proud to be growing with this country, and we look forward to everything that the next chapter will bring.”

The L’Oréal For the Future Summit stands as a marker of progress and a statement of purpose: to build an ecosystem in Saudi Arabia that is inclusive, responsible and built for the long term.

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