For Former USAID Workers, the Struggle Is Real

One year after the Trump administration shuttered the US Agency for International Development (USAID), the New York Times finds impacted workers still reeling. Reporters Elisabeth Bumiller and Eileen Sullivan track former USAID staffers (there were 16,000 of them) and contractors who once earned six-figure salaries managing global health and development programs and are now on food stamps, dipping into retirement accounts, or interviewing for hourly retail jobs. Informal tallies suggest less than half of former workers have landed full-time positions, many at reduced pay. Washington, DC, now has the nation's highest unemployment rate at 6.7%, which the story attributes in part to the agency's collapse and reductions in federal grants and contracts.

Job openings have also vanished at the nonprofits and partner agencies that received USAID funding. "Everyone I know is also up the creek, all my bosses, my mentors, the people you would normally go to, the people providing me references," said Catherine Baker, 36; she previously made $127,000 a year as a USAID contractor and currently has nine hours of paid work a week. An interesting note from Bumiller and Sullivan: They interviewed 30 people who had USAID ties, and "unlike in early 2025, when many who lost jobs thought they might be reinstated and declined to speak on the record for fear of antagonizing Trump officials, this time almost all gave their names and spoke emotionally and at length."

Alysha Beyer, 53, sees an irony in her current situation: "We were running these large programs looking for vulnerable populations, trying to help support them, and then you find yourself a user of the system." Beyond the financial hit, almost everyone interviewed describes a profound loss of purpose and trust. Read the full story for much more, including profiles of other impacted workers.