At the bottom of this article, you will find the translation into the other working languages of the ILO
Except now, it’s early March, and yet, somehow, it already feels like a decade’s worth of events have hit us at once. The world didn’t even wait for the new year to settle in before throwing everything into chaos.
Wildfires ravaged Southern California. One country strengthened its place in a regional bloc, while another joined a major economic alliance. Meanwhile, global markets had a meltdown when China rolled out a ChatGPT competitor, wiping nearly $600 billion off Nvidia’s value in a single day, a record no company wants to hold.
And that was just January.
By February, the world kept turning, but not necessarily in the right direction. Major trade tensions escalated, historic diplomatic shifts unfolded, and political landscapes in key nations saw significant changes. Meanwhile, a groundbreaking archaeological discovery in Egypt reminded us that history has a way of resurfacing just when we least expect it.
And amongst all of this, we witnessed the quiet dismantling of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) initiatives in the US, sweeping funding cuts to schools promoting gender equity, and an outright reversal of climate commitments, all rolled out with the efficiency of someone deleting an ex’s number after a bad breakup.
Oh, and did we mention the USAID shutdown?
Yes, buried under the weight of global chaos, thousands of professionals in international development suddenly found themselves jobless due to budget and project cuts. Their careers, built on years of expertise, fieldwork, and commitment to social impact, were sidelined without warning.
The impact of over 90% of USAID’s foreign aid contracts and grants being terminated and the cut of approximately $60 billion in global assistance programs goes beyond numbers and statistics; it’s deeply personal. Across the world, thousands of professionals in international development, many of whom dedicated their careers to humanitarian and development causes, woke up to the harsh reality of sudden unemployment. NGOs, including ILO Programmes that depended on USAID funding, saw their programs shut down overnight, leaving their staff with no transition plan, no severance, and no answers. It’s not just a job loss; it’s being pushed into immediate financial and professional uncertainty, with little to no time to adjust.
A friend who was caught in this whirlwind described it best:
“It’s surreal. One moment, you have stability; you’re paying your mortgage, sending your kids to a good school, and driving your car without worry. You’re planning for the future. And then, overnight, it all crumbles. Suddenly, you don’t know how you’re going to cover your child’s tuition next term. You don’t know how you’ll make your next mortgage payment and what your next move is. Everything you worked for over decades; gone, just like that.”
This isn’t just about careers being disrupted, it’s about entire lives being upended. The professionals affected are not just workers; they are parents, breadwinners, providers, and individuals who dedicate themselves to making a difference in the world. Now, many of them are facing an uncertain future with no clear path forward, left scrambling for alternatives in an already competitive and unstable job market.
And yet, what makes it worse is the silence from leadership, from the funding bodies, from implementing partners, and even from some of the organizations directly impacted. Where is the accountability? Where is the clear guidance? These are not just bureaucratic disruptions; these are people’s lives being thrown into chaos with no safety net in sight. And while the ripple effects are already reaching organizations like ours, the bigger question remains: Who will actually explain what happens next?
Version française (deepl): ici
Spanish version (deepl): aquì
And where is the unemployment benefits scheme all of this staff deserves, to ease up the pain and stress a little, until we can find another way to earn a living?
Thanks for this article.
Thank you indeed for raising this point which is a long standing issue that the Staff Uion has been calling upon. We indeed believe that unemployment scheme and/or safety nets should be better articulated in our conditions of work.
There has been many years ago a pilot with unemployment scheme, but it was not sustainable and collapsed. So we need to explore options on how this could work.
Indeed.
But the ripple effect does not stop at development professionals, it goes to consultants, implementing partners and ultimately to the ones we serve: constituents and direct beneficiaries, trade unions, workers, families, including the most vulnerable… and this is very much part of the anxiety felt by affected officers: What will happen to them now?
It is said that, even in the richest countries, it takes at least 5 years to recover from a major natural disaster, and can often rise up to 10-20 years. Even if this madness was soon to be stopped, which is far from being likely, how much time would it take to recover? how long with will last the impact of the direct and collateral damages?
Thank you for your valuable comment and further questioning