Crown Agents plans layoffs amid ‘accounting losses’ claim

The United Kingdom-based Crown Agents international development company is shedding jobs in response to financial problems but has rejected a claim made by a former leader of its United States arm that it is pulling out of Ethiopia and Zambia. The not-for-profit firm, with offices in 20 countries and a colorful history dating back to the 18th century, has announced a “restructuring” that will involve “reducing our headcount, particularly in our London HQ office.” It is currently consulting on compulsory layoffs that are expected to lead to the loss of 8% of London posts. The company declined to say how many staff it currently employs in the U.K. capital. Crown Agents’ former U.S. President Amanda Willett suggested the shake-up will close its offices in Ethiopia and Zambia, stating the firm was “facing accounting losses” and has been “struggling for many years to achieve and sustain economic profitability.” However, a spokesperson told Devex: “At this stage, we are not intending to withdraw from Ethiopia or Zambia and still intend to have a presence in both countries.” Asked if the job cuts were prompted by financial losses, or the expectation of them, the spokesperson replied: “Like all other organizations, we need to continue to evolve. To be a healthy company into the future, we need to adapt faster to the changing demands of the market and ensure our structures and processes do not overshadow our talent and commitment to delivering the best solutions for our clients.” Willetts, in a LinkedIn post, remembered a “similarly stark restructuring” in the company’s Washington D.C. office prior to her 2019 appointment, which “dramatically reduced” the headcount from more than 40 to just five. “I have firsthand experience with the enormous challenges that lie ahead and the immense emotional toll these changes will take. My thoughts are with everyone who works for Crown Agents, particularly with the individuals who are directly impacted,” she wrote. Crown Agents highlights its work in procurement, logistics, and inspections, health, crisis response and recovery, and governance and public administration, in more than 100 countries, as well as on “the most off-track SDGs” and the shift to low carbon development. Its origins date back to 1749 when, as a government body, it carried out financial transactions for colonies within the British Empire, before expansion after 1945 to take on projects in other, independent countries. In the 1970s, it required a government bailout as a high-profile failure of a property and banking scandal that led to then-Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher apologizing in Parliament for “serious shortcomings.” Crown Agents was privatized in 1997, with the nonprofit Crown Agents Foundation as its sole shareholder. Many of its current programs are funded from the development budgets of Japan and the U.K., which dramatically cut back bilateral aid projects after 2020 when it slashed aid from 0.7% to 0.5% of national income. However, the Crown Agents spokesperson said the redundancies are not related to any shriveling of U.K. funding. It won three contracts in 2022, for projects in Ethiopia, Syria, and Jordan, according to the Development Tracker website. “We are restructuring the company to build in agility and increase our ability to respond to humanitarian and development needs around the world in line with the support of our donors,” the spokesperson added. “As a result, we will be reducing our headcount, particularly in our London HQ office. During this design, we have worked to ensure that our clients and programmes will not be impacted, and we will continue to deliver our critical work to the high quality Crown Agents is known for.”