The new reality for global development consultants

In the flurry of activity that followed the dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development and subsequent sector-wide aid cuts, consulting work was a Hail Mary for many impacted professionals. While it didn’t offer long-term job security, it was a means of staying in the sector, earning, and utilizing the years of accrued expertise. At the same time, shifting donor priorities and organizations operating in survival mode reshaped the number and type of consultancy opportunities available. Today’s consultancy landscape looks different and remains in flux, said those working within it. “I don’t know that I know what the ‘new normal’ is because it doesn’t feel like we have landed yet anywhere,” said Lilian Medina Romero, cofounder of the U.S. and Latin America-focused nonprofit consultancy, The Bridge Sisters. “A lot of pieces are moving, and we’re all trying to figure out what's going to happen.” Consultants have long been a cornerstone of the global development workforce, undertaking specific time-bound tasks. Leading institutions, such as the World Bank, over the years have had consultants make up roughly 25% of their positions. Following the aid budget cuts, there was an initial drop in the number of consulting positions. On Devex’s jobs board, postings for these roles decreased by almost 25% compared to the same period in 2024. The ramifications of tighter budgets and an abundance of expertise across the sector are still playing out. “In 2026, it’s a waiting period to see if a shift will happen as quick as it did in 2025 or if it’s a year of leveling a little,” said Jane Bech Larsen, business development director at NIRAS International Consulting. Devex asked consultants from around the world what development consultancy currently looks like. More competition for fewer opportunities With many professionals affected by layoffs turning to consultancy work, there are more candidates than positions, according to those Devex spoke to. Fewer opportunities exist due to budget restraints as well as artificial intelligence’s ability to perform certain tasks once done by consultants, such as analyzing datasets and editing reports, said Tucker McCravy, a Laos-based strategic consultant for INGOs. This confluence of factors means consultants who have long been in the space, such as Pascalina Chanda, a Zambia-based health and development consultant, is finding it harder to land contracts. “There’s a pool of expertise that is available so, as a senior consultant, where I had the advantage at the apex there, now there’s so many of us,” she said. This isn’t the view across the board, though. Lauro Vives, managing partner at Pacific Development Consulting Ltd, told Devex in an email that he is seeing a steady, even increasing, stream of consulting opportunities in the Pacific region, although there is still heightened competition for those positions. “Global tightening is shrinking the international job market and pushing more candidates toward Pacific postings, increasing competition for internationally advertised roles,” he said. In response to the shortage of opportunities, Medina Romero said her agency collaborates with other consultants. “We team up and we do it together, and we share resources, and by sharing resources, we’re getting more work,” she explained. At least half of the agency’s 2025 contracts came from working in this way, she shared. Word of mouth is the way to find work While most opportunities appear to be advertised and contractors still need to comply with the procurement processes of development finance institutions and foundations, now more than ever, securing work is based on who you know, said Bech Larsen. “There’s much more need for networking, for connections, for talking, for knowing,” she said. This has been the Bridge Sisters’ experience too. “Where we have been getting contracts is definitely through connections and networking,” Medina Romero shared. She also believes that recruiters are increasingly hiring via their networks because of the higher numbers of applications — and the use of AI in those applications. “People are also being more conservative in the way that they approach projects budget-wise, and are less willing to find new people, so they are just trying to find people within their networks,” she said. McCravy feels that one way employers are strategically whittling down applicants is by ramping up what candidates are required to submit. Applications are more complex these days, he said, typically requiring not just a cover letter but full technical and financial proposals. Contracts are shorter Of the opportunities available, they are often much shorter than they were previously, said Vives, explaining that typical contracts today run from four to six months. At the time of publishing, Devex’s board had 365 active advertisements for short-term contracts and 173 for longer-term positions of around a year. The shorter number of billable work days is then being stretched over a longer time frame, Vives explained. “For example, 69 days spread over nine months or 30 days over seven months,” he said. “This structure affects how consultants schedule their time and manage overlapping assignments.” What consultants get paid for these assignments may also be less. One expert Devex spoke to who wished to remain anonymous said that organizations may be taking advantage of the abundance of talent to offer lower market rates. “Rates remain depressed, extending what has been a flat, lackluster market for several years,” Vives said. “A key driver is austerity in regional and country offices, which is putting sustained downward pressure on consultancy rates.” This means local rates in particular are not competitive enough to attract top talent, he added. It’s also unlikely these positions will turn into permanent roles, Medina Romero said. “Where hiring is still happening, it is increasingly role-specific and delivery-driven with many organizations leaning more on fixed-term and consultancy capacity to keep programs moving rather than adding long-term headcount,” she said. The skills sought after are changing As organizations look to do more with less, the external expertise they’re looking for is evolving. Instead of traditional communications work, for example, Medina Romero said she is seeing more requests from clients around long-term planning. “There’s a lot of helping clients understand the performance of their work … [and how] to be more efficient in spending resources,” she said. Skill demand is also shifting in line with donor priorities, which, in the case of the U.S. government, have radically changed over the last year. The country’s foreign aid in recent months has focused on humanitarian response and global health, while its top bilateral grantee for 2025 was the National Endowment for Democracy. Chanda is seeing consulting opportunities in environmental sustainability, health security, and advocacy, while Vives noted a focus on climate resilience, economic growth, governance, and safeguarding. Devex’s job board currently features several short-term assignments for mid- and senior-level experts in emergency response, as well as consulting opportunities for a health emergency officer, an infectious disease surveillance expert, and an environmental exposure scientist. Going forward, Bech Larsen said consultants will need to be agile, adapting their skills to the changing demand, while understanding that the operating environment today calls for doing good in a way that also serves a political agenda. “We’re consultants, right? We’re hired to have an opinion about something our client needs. Focus on giving and on doing that well,” she advised. “But if you’re 25 [years old], don’t go into this business.”