After refusing to place thousands more staff on administrative leave, USAID’s chief human resources officer was pushed out himself, a former USAID official told Devex — and soon after, more than 1,400 additional staff members were severed from the agency.
By Tuesday night, that move was expanded even further, with the U.S. Agency for International Development’s website stating all direct hires would be placed on administrative leave by midnight on Friday, Feb. 7.
William Malyska was USAID’s acting chief human capital officer. He joined the agency in December 2024 after nearly a decade at the National Science Foundation, a federal agency that supports research across American universities.
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About the author
Elissa Miolene
Elissa Miolene reports on USAID and the U.S. government at Devex. She previously covered education at The San Jose Mercury News, and has written for outlets like The Wall Street Journal, San Francisco Chronicle, Washingtonian magazine, among others. Before shifting to journalism, Elissa led communications for humanitarian agencies in the United States, East Africa, and South Asia.
