Unceremonious sacking may preview the future of privatizing US aid

Over the past three weeks, as the Trump administration swiftly dismantled the United States Agency for International Development, some workers experienced particularly unceremonious dismissals.

This includes those working for the Global Health Training, Advisory, and Support Contract, or GHTASC, project, which employed the majority of the institutional support contractors in the agency’s Bureau for Global Health. While several employers were involved in this project, Credence Management Solutions, LLC, a private technology and services company, was the prime recipient of the contract.

Amid the flurry of USAID workers losing their work, GHTASC workers had an even more abrupt experience than the rest — many of those employed directly by USAID were put on paid administrative leave or unpaid furlough, which allowed them to maintain benefits. But GHTASC employees received an immediate termination letter with no severance and their health insurance was cut four days later.