Who cut jobs in Pakistan in 2026? What was reported, and how solid each report is
Careem, e&, Motive, Jeeny, Zong and Faisalabad's power looms: every 2026 layoff report we've tracked, with its label, sources and any company response.
Status: Reported This is a roundup. Each company below carries its own label, from Reported to Disputed; the article as a whole summarises reports, not confirmed figures. What the labels mean.
Who cut jobs in Pakistan in 2026? Here’s what has been reported so far, and how solid each report is.
Layoff news spreads fast on WhatsApp and LinkedIn, and numbers get repeated long after anyone checks them. So for every company below we show what was reported, by whom, and one of four labels: Confirmed, Reported, Unconfirmed or Disputed. If a company denies a report, we print the denial. We never name affected individuals.
For the always-current list, see the News tracker.
How to read the labels
| Label | What it means |
|---|---|
| Confirmed | The company, or an official filing or statement, confirms it |
| Reported | At least one named news outlet reported it |
| Unconfirmed | Social media or a single unnamed source only |
| Disputed | Reported, and denied. We show both sides |
None of the 2026 reports below is Confirmed yet.
Careem (May 2026): Reported
Pakistan tech teams were hit as part of global cuts. FWDstart reported layoffs across multiple markets and the closure of Careem’s Berlin office; TechJuice and Pakistan Observer reported that Pakistani employees and developers were affected.
No headcount for Pakistan has been disclosed in our sources.
e&, the Telenor Pakistan and Ufone merger (Jul 2026): Reported
After the merger, the new company was expected to cut duplicate roles, sources told Business Recorder in July. Insiders estimated a reduction of about 300 to 500 employees, with compensation limited to a few months’ salary.
Company response: the company told Business Recorder it “cannot comment on speculation related to internal plans”. That is a decline to comment, not a denial.
Motive (19 Aug 2026): Unconfirmed
An employee-shared breakdown on Reddit (r/developersPak) says about 251 roles were cut globally on 19 August, around 5% of the workforce, and puts 88 of them in Pakistan. It is unofficial, and we haven’t found a named news report or a company statement for either number, so on this site it is labelled Unconfirmed.
Jeeny (Sep 2026): Unconfirmed
Pakistan engineering cuts were mentioned in a LinkedIn post dated 4 September 2026. No official figure has been published.
Zong (Sep 2026): Disputed
Affected staff told TechJuice that about 150 people were let go at the Islamabad head office.
Zong’s response: the company called the report “inaccurate” and “unsubstantiated”, as reported by Pakistan Observer.
Until there is more evidence either way, this one stays Disputed.
Faisalabad power looms (Oct 2026): Reported
Not a tech company, but the biggest number reported this year. Dawn reported on 7 October that around 40% of power-loom units in Faisalabad and adjoining towns have shut. A workers’ union leader told Dawn more than 100,000 workers have lost jobs; that is his claim, not an official count. Details in our weekly roundup.
Not 2026: SadaPay, Bazaar and Nukta
You may have seen these three on “2026 layoffs” lists. Those cuts happened earlier, as reported by Profit (Pakistan Today):
| Company | When | Roles cut (reported) |
|---|---|---|
| Bazaar | Feb 2024 | about 600 |
| SadaPay | Jul 2024 | about 80 |
| Nukta | Nov 2025 | 37 |
Old layoffs recirculating as new ones is an easy mistake to make. Always check the date on the original report.
What this tells us, and what it doesn’t
- It tells us that several well-known employers with Pakistan teams have been linked to cuts in 2026.
- It doesn’t tell us how many people in Pakistan lost jobs in total. Of the Pakistan-specific numbers in named news reports, Zong’s is denied, e&’s is an estimate from unnamed sources, and the Faisalabad figure is a union leader’s claim.
If you were affected
Update your LinkedIn, turn on Open to Work, and tell your network directly. On our LinkedIn page we share posts from people who were affected (comment “open” on our tracker post). Recruiters can post open roles in the comments too.
Know of a layoff or hiring push we missed? Send us a tip. We verify before we post, and we never publish names of affected people.
Sources
- TechJuice, Careem layoffs hit Pakistani developers (May 2026)
- Pakistan Observer, Careem cuts global jobs, Pakistani employees also hit
- FWDstart, Careem layoffs across markets, Berlin office closed
- Reddit, r/developersPak, Layoffs at Motive 19th August (employee-shared breakdown, unofficial)
- LinkedIn (individual post), LinkedIn post on Jeeny Pakistan engineering layoffs (4 Sep 2026)
- TechJuice, ~150 Zong employees reportedly let go
- Business Recorder, Telenor-Ufone merger may trigger job cuts . Checked 9 Oct 2026
- Dawn, Power loom sector reels under imports, rising costs . Checked 9 Oct 2026
- Pakistan Observer, Zong denies report
- Profit (Pakistan Today), SadaPay layoffs (Jul 2024)
- Profit (Pakistan Today), Bazaar layoffs (Feb 2024)
- Profit (Pakistan Today), Nukta layoffs (Nov 2025)
Drafted with AI assistance from the sources listed above; every figure and link is checked against those sources before publishing. Spotted an error? Tell us (see our corrections policy). Discuss it on LinkedIn.