The World Bank plans to eliminate all short-term consultancy positions by 2027 — a move that staff warn could upend project delivery, threaten visa security for foreign nationals, and erode the bank’s ability to draw on global expertise.
A September presentation to the board, seen by Devex, outlines proposals to fully phase out short-term consultants — or STCs — who currently make up roughly a quarter of the bank’s workforce, with no new appointments allowed after July 2026.
While officially capped at 120 workdays a year, many STCs work on rolling contracts that effectively make them full-time staff without benefits or job security. There are approximately 22,000 STCs at the bank, whose work is roughly equivalent to about 7,000 full-time staff.
About the authors
Adva Saldinger@AdvaSal
Adva Saldinger is a Senior Reporter at Devex where she covers development finance, as well as U.S. foreign aid policy. Adva explores the role the private sector and private capital play in development and authors the weekly Devex Invested newsletter bringing the latest news on the role of business and finance in addressing global challenges. A journalist with more than 10 years of experience, she has worked at several newspapers in the U.S. and lived in both Ghana and South Africa.
Sophie Edwards
Sophie Edwards is a Devex Contributing Reporter covering global education, water and sanitation, and innovative financing, along with other topics. She has previously worked for NGOs, and the World Bank, and spent a number of years as a journalist for a regional newspaper in the U.K. She has a master's degree from the Institute of Development Studies and a bachelor's from Cambridge University.
