{"id":4459,"date":"2026-05-13T07:50:40","date_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:50:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=4459"},"modified":"2026-05-13T07:50:41","modified_gmt":"2026-05-13T06:50:41","slug":"mass-layoffs-in-iran-wage-earners-and-workers-under-the-strain-of-war-internet-disruption-and-industrial-stagnation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/codir.net\/?p=4459","title":{"rendered":"Mass Layoffs in Iran: Wage Earners and Workers Under the Strain of War, Internet Disruption, and Industrial Stagnation!"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

While the Iranian economy had already been debilitated by the weight of sanctions, structural corruption, mismanagement, the collapse of the national currency, and the erosion of purchasing power prior to the conflict, the 40 days war started on 28th February, 2026 and its direct consequences have now confronted the country’s labour market with a fresh crisis. A wave of mass layoffs, redundancies, non-renewal of employment contracts, reduced working hours, and mandatory unpaid leaves has surged across various sectors of the Iranian economy; a phenomenon spanning from technology firms and e-commerce platforms to textile mills, petrochemical-related industries, and small-scale manufacturing units.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A case in point is the story of ‘Babak,’ a 49-year-old product designer at a technology firm in Tehran. In mid-March, he was summoned to his manager’s office and informed that his position had been eliminated. Two weeks prior, coinciding with the onset of the conflict between the United States, Israel, and Iran, the government had severed internet system completely\u2014a decision that effectively paralyzed the tech industry and rendered his work impossible. Babak told The New York Times that despite years of diligent work, continuous learning, and professional development, he now finds himself in a state of profound uncertainty and ambiguity at this stage of his life.
Babak\u2019s experience has now become a pervasive reality across Iran. Under the simultaneous pressure of war, import disruptions, raw material shortages, plummeting demand, and internet blackouts, companies have initiated a fresh round of mass layoffs. Gholamhossein Mohammadi, a government official, has estimated that the war has resulted in the loss of one million jobs and ‘the direct and indirect unemployment of two million people.’ While the precise scale of this figure remains to be fully verified, it aligns with numerous reports from industrial, service, and digital sectors. Furthermore, some international reports indicate the destruction of over 23,000 businesses and a severe escalation of the cost-of-living crisis in Iran.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For the Trump administration, the conflict serves as a core component of the ‘maximum pressure’ strategy against the Islamic Republic. In explicit remarks, the U.S. President stated his hope for the Iranian economy to collapse, driven by a desire to emerge ‘victorious.’ However, as is often the case, the primary burden of this pressure falls squarely on the shoulders of labourers, salaried employees, private sector staff, contract workers, low-income families, and small-scale manufacturing units. While Iranian officials assert that such pressures will prove futile and that the nation will not capitulate, the internal ‘bill’ for the war and economic blockade is being footed by those who hold the least influence over political and military decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The current crisis is not solely a product of the war, though the conflict has propelled it into a volatile new phase. Years of sanctions, corruption, inflation, currency instability, and dwindling investment had already debilitated the foundations of the Iranian economy. Amir Hossein Khaleqi, an Isfahan-based economist, told The New York Times that even prior to the war, Iran was in a dire state, ensnared in a web of ‘super-crises.’ These crises have now converged into a new vortex: military strikes on infrastructure and industrial sites, the blockade of Iranian ports, disruptions to oil exports, difficulties in importing essential goods and raw materials, and an internet blackout that has effectively neutralized an entire sector of the economy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Iran\u2019s digital sector, until recently regarded as a hallmark of the country\u2019s economic potential, has emerged as one of the primary casualties of the current situation. The internet blackout has disrupted technology firms, online marketplaces, digital advertising, financial services, customer relations, online payment systems, and even the day-to-day operations of numerous enterprises. The head of a prominent Iranian technology trade association estimates that the internet shutdown inflicts up to $80 million in direct and indirect daily losses on the national economy. This figure underscores that the disconnection of the internet is no longer merely a state security tool for social control; it has evolved into a persistent assault on businesses, employment, and the livelihoods of millions.
Digikala, Iran\u2019s largest technology and e-commerce company\u2014frequently referred to as the ‘Amazon of Iran’\u2014has laid off 200 employees, approximately three percent of its workforce. The company\u2019s CEO, Masoud Tabatabaei, cited recent instabilities as the driving factor behind this decision. In another instance, Hadi Farnoud, founder of the e-commerce platform ‘Kamva,’ announced the complete closure of the company. He noted that following two conflicts and months of internet disruptions, navigating the crisis was no longer feasible, rendering further operations impossible.
In the industrial sector, the immediate catalyst for many layoffs is the acute shortage of raw materials. Military strikes by the United States and Israel on several major petrochemical and steel facilities have disrupted the supply of base materials for downstream industries. Furthermore, the blockade of Iranian ports has severely hindered the importation of essential goods and manufacturing inputs. Factories dependent on petrochemicals, metals, imported components, or specialized machinery have either scaled back production or are maintaining only a nominal presence. In this environment, formal dismissal is not the sole manifestation of unemployment; many workers are facing non-renewal of contracts, reduced shifts, mandatory furloughs, or sporadic shutdowns.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Iranian Labour News Agency (ILNA) reports that a textile mill in western Iran has laid off 700 of its 800 workers, while another plant in the north has displaced 500 employees. Bahram Zonoubitabar, head of a local labor council in Fars province, stated that some units have ceased actual production and are operating only semi-actively or intermittently to preserve their legal existence. This depiction offers a clearer image of the current stagnation: factories that have not been extinguished but are no longer ‘breathing,’ and workers whose names remain on the payroll but who lack genuine wages or labor.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Mehdi Bostanchi, head of the Industrial Coordination Council, stated that Iran\u2019s industrial sector has entered a period of contraction that could affect up to 3.5 million workers. He explained that unlike classic recessions, the decline in employment is not always immediately reflected in official statistics; many employers opt for the non-renewal of contracts, reduced working hours, or mandatory leave instead of announcing mass layoffs. This ‘hidden’ unemployment exacerbates the crisis, as official data may lag behind the true depth of the catastrophe. Economic and labor reports further indicate expanding redundancies across supply chains and petrochemical-affiliated industries.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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The strain on the labor market is also reflected in recruitment data. On April 25, a leading Iranian job-seeking platform recorded a staggering 318,000 curriculum vitae (CV) submissions in a single day\u2014a figure approximately 50% higher than the previous record. Other reports placed this number closer to 320,000 applications. Such a surge is rarely a mere administrative statistic; it is a clear indicator of a sudden influx of the unemployed, the recently laid-off, workers anxious about their job security, and those forced by hyperinflation to seek secondary employment or alternative income streams.
Amidst this, government policies have occasionally exacerbated the pressure on businesses rather than mitigating the crisis. In March, the government mandated a 60% increase in the minimum wage\u2014a decision ostensibly aimed at compensating for rampant inflation and the collapse of workers’ purchasing power. However, under conditions of recession, conflict, declining sales, and production disruptions, some private sector executives argue that this move delivered a fresh shock to companies, intensifying the wave of dismissals. This argument, however, should not be used to scapegoat labor wages. The core issue remains that workers have been crushed by inflation for years, while the state and employers have failed to both control prices and provide a robust framework for job preservation or genuine support for wage earners.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a message marking May Day and Teacher’s Day earlier this month, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Republic urged employers to avoid layoffs as much as possible, characterizing the workforce as a manufacturing unit\u2019s ‘wealth.’ Yet, such moral exhortations\u2014lacking practical policy, legal enforcement, or financial support for affected workers and units\u2014cannot stem the tide of unemployment. The fundamental contradiction lies here: many of the crises forcing companies to downsize are the direct results of high-level state decisions and policies, ranging from internet blackouts and social crackdowns to the high-cost geopolitical paths that have exposed the country to war and blockade.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For working-class and middle-class families, the crisis has swiftly transitioned from statistical data to daily reality. Babak, the displaced product designer, notes that he has lost his job twice within a single year. The first instance occurred ten days prior to the Israeli strikes on Iran in June 2025. It took months for him to secure a new position, which came with a lower salary. He and his wife struggled to meet their living expenses. Then came the conflict with the U.S. and Israel, the internet blackout, and his recent layoff. In recent weeks, they have sold their car and jewelry to survive. Now, with nothing left to sell, they have become dependent on the financial support of their families.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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This narrative is not merely the story of a single tech employee; it is a condensed reflection of the lives of millions of families grappling with inflation, unemployment, job insecurity, rising rents, healthcare costs, educational expenses, and the precipitous decline in real income. When conflict and internet blackouts exacerbate industrial stagnation, the final blow is dealt to those without savings, formal contracts, stable insurance, or those operating within the informal economy. From this perspective, the current crisis transcends corporate failure; it is a crisis of the working class and all wage earners whose professional security has been sacrificed to war, sanctions, blockades, security-driven policies, and structural economic incompetence.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The political ramifications of this situation could prove severe. Over the past decade, economic discontent in Iran has repeatedly catalyzed nationwide protests. Demonstrations that began over price hikes, currency devaluation, unemployment, and poverty swiftly converged with grievances against the power structure and political repression. If the wave of layoffs persists, if internet restrictions remain, if downstream industries continue to operate at half-capacity due to raw material shortages, and if the government offers only rhetoric instead of substantive support for workers, the precursors for social upheaval will broaden once again.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The New York Times report offers a stark depiction of this reality: war and blockade are not confined to the military theater; they persist in factories, technology firms, wholesale markets, labourers’ homes, unrenewed contracts, and the mountains of CVs accumulating on recruitment platforms. While the Iranian government asserts that such pressures will not force its capitulation, and the U.S. administration declares its intent to drive the Iranian economy toward total collapse, caught between these two logics of power are Iran\u2019s workers and wage earners, who are losing their jobs, income, security, and future.<\/p>\n

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