The entire job landscape within global development is shifting and consultants are not immune. Much of the turbulence of 2025 — from funding cuts to the rise of artificial intelligence — will play out in the year ahead, said experts and consultants.
“After shifts in United States foreign aid and Europe’s geopolitics, social sectors like health and cross-cutting areas such as inclusive development has slowed considerably. On the other hand, however, climate work is up,” said Lauro Vives, co-founder and managing partner of Pacific Development Consulting.
As the sector adapts to limited resources, subsequent change for consultants in 2026 won’t necessarily be a bad thing, suggested Vignesh Shankar, managing director of the Mumbai office of FSG, a global nonprofit consulting firm. “The potential to create impact is bigger now than it was a few years ago,” he said, adding that so too is the learning potential “because you're dealing with a lot more uncertainty and a lot more ambiguity, and these are things that make you a better consultant.”