Ooredoo Oman’s job restructuring will cost $40m

The organisational restructuring at Ooredoo Oman will cost about OR15 million ($40 million) after the listed telecom became the latest major company in the sultanate to lay off employees as part of efforts to reduce operating costs.

The telco said in its Omani bourse disclosure that the cost of the restructuring “will negatively impact the profit of the 2025 financial year”.

Last week, Ooredoo Oman announced a termination package of 24-month salaries would be paid to 125 of its workforce, a deal that was negotiated by the sultanate’s ministry of labour.

It added in the disclosure that the restructuring is expected to make a saving of OR8 million ($21 million) annually for the company from 2026.

The telecom company reported a profit decline of 13.5 percent to OR6.4 million in the first nine months of this year compared with the same period in 2024.  

This is the second Omani company this year to lay off workers: in October, national carrier Oman Air laid off hundreds of workers in a bid to reduce its operational costs. 

Analysts fear the job losses may continue well into the next year if local companies do not rein in their costs and improve efficiency.

“Some of the largest companies in Oman are not cost effective and their management teams are not competent enough to modernise their operations. There is a good chance the job losses will continue in 2026,” Salim Al-Kathiri, analyst at Oman Business Forum, told AGBI. 

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