Devex Pro Insider: What happened to aid jobs in 2025?

This week, Devex has published not one but two special reports to help paint a picture of the world of international development, both of which are available, for free, to you, dear Devex Pro member — our annual analyses of the top employers in the development jobs market and the top foundations funding development.

Perhaps the key finding in the first report was that the number of jobs advertised fell considerably last year, with a drop of 27%.

More generally, we found it was a tough year for the United Nations, which has historically dominated the list. There were still six U.N. agencies in the top 10, but at dramatically reduced levels. UNICEF, the top employer in 2024, saw a swan dive in jobs advertised — plunging from more than 7,000 in 2024 to 3,484 last year.

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