Urdu News cuts jobs across Pakistan amid financial strain

 JournalismPakistan.com |  Published: 3 April 2026 |  JP Staff Report

A Saudi-owned Urdu outlet, Urdu News, has dismissed multiple staff across Pakistan amid financial difficulties, including National Press Club Vice President Bashir Chaudhry and senior reporter Waheed Murad. No official figures or statement have been released.

Summary

ISLAMABAD — A Saudi media group’s Urdu-language outlet has laid off multiple employees across Pakistan, adding to mounting job losses in the country’s already strained media sector. The dismissals at Urdu News were attributed to financial difficulties, according to journalists citing internal developments and social media posts.

Among those affected are National Press Club Vice President Bashir Chaudhry and senior journalist Waheed Murad. The scale of the layoffs remains unclear, with no official figure released on how many employees have been dismissed across major cities.

Layoffs spread across major cities

The reported job cuts are said to span multiple urban centers, though details about the total number of affected staff or specific bureaus have not been publicly confirmed. The absence of an official statement from the organization has added to uncertainty among media workers and industry observers.

Journalist Rizwan Ghilzai first flagged the development on X, while other media professionals amplified concerns about the growing instability in journalism jobs. The layoffs come at a time when even international media organizations operating in Pakistan appear to be reassessing costs and staffing.

National media is already facing worst crisis and now even foreign media taking jobs of journalists, especially professionals like @awaheedmurad and @Bashirchaudhry is an indication for fresh media graduates this field has nothing to offer you. Best wishes for my friends https://t.co/uo6KGLiWeu

— Asad Ali Toor (@AsadAToor) April 3, 2026

Industry voices warn of worsening outlook

Prominent journalist Asad Toor described the layoffs as part of a broader decline in the profession, warning that shrinking opportunities are discouraging new entrants. In a post on X, he said the dismissal of experienced journalists signals a bleak outlook for fresh graduates considering careers in media.

The latest cuts follow a series of layoffs across Pakistani newsrooms in recent weeks. Aaj TV has faced strong criticism over what journalist unions described as illegal terminations, with employees allegedly dismissed without notice and left unpaid for months.

Unions raise alarm over labor practices

The Karachi Union of Journalists (KUJ) condemned the Aaj TV layoffs, saying they affected staff in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, and Quetta. In a statement issued earlier this week, KUJ leaders said the situation reflects worsening labor conditions and a lack of safeguards for media workers.

Recent months have also seen job cuts at other outlets, including Abb Takk TV, which dismissed several journalists before Eid-ul-Fitr. Earlier reductions at Nukta and NewsOne in 2025 had already signaled financial strain within parts of the industry.

WHY THIS MATTERS: The layoffs highlight a deepening employment crisis in Pakistan’s media sector, where both local and foreign outlets are scaling back operations. For journalists, this signals shrinking job security and raises concerns about editorial independence as financial pressures mount. News organizations may need to rethink sustainable business models and labor protections to retain talent and credibility.

ATTRIBUTION: Reporting by JournalismPakistan, based on posts by journalists Rizwan Ghilzai and Asad Toor on X (April 2–3, 2026) and a publicly available statement issued by the Karachi Union of Journalists (April 1, 2026).

PHOTO: AI-generated; for illustrative purposes only.