At the end of 2024, it seemed like the biggest influential factors on the 2025 aid and development job market would be artificial intelligence, automation, and the continued transition to more locally led work. While then-incoming U.S. President Donald Trump was seen by development insiders as a potential threat to family planning and climate organizations, experts didn’t predict the extent of the upheaval his second presidential term would bring. The dismantling of USAID will have massive repercussions on the job market for the remainder of the year, experts say.
“It's going to be just a tougher job market,” said Stephanie Mansueto, a social impact career coach who is seeing an influx in inquiries as individuals affected by layoffs navigate next steps. “Before all this went down with the stop-work orders and the cuts, I was telling people, depending on their level, to estimate a job search to be anywhere from three to six months. Now I'm telling people it's going to be a year-plus potentially for them to find a job.”
Shortly after his inauguration, Trump announced USAID staff would be reduced from 10,000 to just over 600 staffers as stop-work orders came into play amid a planned review of all foreign aid. Even as lawsuits go forward on behalf of development workers, other organizations around the world, funded by the U.S. Agency for International Development and unable to wait it out, are also letting staff go.