S-Oil halts recruiting amid worsening profits

Oil prices are displayed at an S-Oil gas station in Seoul, May 7. Yonhap

S-Oil has abruptly halted its recruitment process for hiring college graduates who would have been responsible for managing the company’s transactions with local gas stations, citing growing uncertainties in the global economy and a deteriorating business environment.

The Saudi Aramco-owned refiner said Wednesday it dropped its plan to hire a double-digit number of retail sales managers.

As a result, applicants who passed the resume screening phase are now left to either search for other jobs or wait indefinitely for two rounds of interviews, which were to follow an aptitude test taken on May 4.

“As a result of the worsening external business environment caused by protectionist policies of major economies, drastic changes in tariff policies and a shift in the global economic order, our financial performance has weakened,” the company said in an email sent Tuesday to applicants informing them of its decision to suspend the recruitment process.

“Given these conditions, we had no choice but to suspend the ongoing hiring process for retail sales managers,” it added.

S-Oil posted the job openings in April, targeting college graduates and students set to graduate by August. It initially planned to hire new employees in July as six-month contract workers, with a transition to permanent roles in January 2026.

However, for nearly a month after the aptitude test, the company had not announced the results, raising concerns among applicants about a possible delay.

On Tuesday, it officially confirmed that the recruitment process had been suspended.

“If we resume the process, the applicants who passed the resume screening this time will not have to go through it again,” a company spokesperson said. “We have therefore asked them to agree to let us retain their personal information.”

It remains unclear when S-Oil will restart recruitment.

Even if the process resumes, it is uncertain whether the company will proceed with its original plan to hire the same number of employees.

During the first quarter, S-Oil posted an operating loss of 21.5 billion won ($15.7 million), with revenue falling 3.4 percent year-on-year to 8.9 trillion won.

Analysts expect a deeper loss in the second quarter, forecasting an operating loss of around 80 billion won due to sluggish international petroleum prices.

“Due to massive inventory losses from the sharp drop in oil prices, the company will likely continue to post operating losses in the second quarter,” Shinyoung Securities analyst Shin Hong-ju said.

S-Oil’s capital expenditure this year is also projected to exceed 4 trillion won, largely driven by the 9 trillion won Shaheen project, which aims to build a large-scale petrochemical complex near its refining facilities in Ulsan.