Context: I'm not in development, but am married to someone that is and expect to be either furloughed or laid off. I am in the tech world, which has faced a lot of layoffs the last two years. The following is a resource I've used that I wanted to offer up here. I have no affiliation other than having read the book and gone through the process and felt grateful for doing so. This sort of reads like a puff piece, hence all the disclaimers :)

If you have been laid off, furloughed, or expect to be, and are contemplating how to think about a career pivot, one resource I would highly commend to you is Phyl Terry's book Never Search Alone.

• An immediate, practical checklist of the steps to take immediately following being laid off—inclusive of taking a breath for self care.
• A very structured approach to the whole job search -- everything from a set of activities to walk you through identifying how what you have to offer might realistically translate to job types/career paths to approaching networking, interviewing, and negotiation. I'm incredibly skeptical of guided activities, but legitimately found the activities practical and insightful. I haven't followed every aspect of the process, but really appreciated not having to recreate how to do a job search/make a career pivot.
• A free (like, actually free) service to connect you with other jobseekers of similar seniority to walk through the activities and overall process together. This, as the title of the book suggests, is the real thesis of the book--that it is best to go through the overall job searching process with a focused group of others. This provides two things. First, and most importantly, it provides you with a support group that knows exactly what you're going through in a time that can often be incredibly isolating. Second, of course, it gives structure and accountability. You will be matched with people in other industries, which also helps bring in some new perspectives.

They have a whole army of volunteers that have built out incredible facilitation tools, templates, etc for the jobseeker groups. I was really impressed by the process. And, other than the cost of the book ($16 paper back, $10 kindle) it was completely free.

Given the uncertainty so many of you are already in in terms of "what the hell do I do next," I think the early activities of figuring out what's important to you, what you bring the the table, how you might translate that to other contexts, etc. would be very useful.

Again -- zero affiliation, zero kickback..just the spouse of someone impacted that cares a lot about the work you all have dedicated yourselves to. Good luck out there, friends.

How are folks handling communication with local IPs and subcontractors? One overseas sub stated that there is no legal provisions in their laws for furloughs and so the only option is termination or redundancy. For termination, they are requesting one month’s notice or full month salary which our firm can’t afford. Thoughts anyone?

If you haven't read Project 2025 yet, now is the time to do so. USAID is pages 253-281. It's obvious the admin is treating this as a playbook. Some of the things have come to pass already, others are already being discussed.

If you want to see what their plans are for global health, climate change, gender, etc., their plans for the regions, their plans for staffing and reorganization, it's all there.

And for some reason, despite being pro-private sector everywhere else, they hate development contractors.

Page 253: "The Trump Administration faced an institution marred by bureaucratic inertia: programmatic incoherence; wasteful spending; and dependence on huge awards to a self-serving and politicized aid industrial complex of United Nations agencies, international nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and for-profit contractors."

Page 268: "Transition from large awards to expensive, inefficient, and corrupt U.N. agencies, global NGOs, and contractors to local, especially faith-based, entities that are already operating on the ground. This approach provides a far less expensive and more effective alternative for aid delivery. Local partners more ably navigate corrupt environments and are more likely to steer vulnerable populations away from dependence on aid toward self-sufficiency."

Page 277: "Correspondingly, USAID should aggressively ramp down its partnerships with wasteful, costly, and politicized U.N. agencies, international NGOs, and Beltway contractors. All new programs in Africa should build on existing local initiatives that enjoy the support of the African people."

The message here is not to accept defeat. WE KNOW WHAT THEY'RE GOING TO DO. Don't quit, fight this shit. Don't let them call climate resilience "radical." Don't let them call maternal health "woke." And while localization is a great thing, don't let them tell you there's no role for US citizens to play in serving our country, and providing technical assistance and support to our colleagues in other countries.

This feels so much worse than losing a job. It feels like someone has died. It feels like decades of work is being flushed down the toilet. It’s so painful 😣

Trigger warning: positivity

It’s been a long week, but there have been some small bright spots. Some examples:

• One very junior former colleague of mine who was already unhappy and already interviewing got an offer from a domestic organization this week and will make the transition in February before she likely would have been laid off. (I’d been coaching her on interview prep, so I think I might have been just as excited as she was)
• Some folks receiving very kind support messages from friends and former colleagues that mean a ton. Someone posted here that they were thinking about doing this for a former professor and, yes, definitely do this (this will be my weekend project)
• At the risk of toxic positivity… lots of folks “banding together” (WhatsApp groups dedicated to job search support, folks offering to make connections, etc)
• Country staff still getting paid because of legal local legal protections
• Organized protests, support from some lawmakers providing some small amounts of validation
• One close friend who has been furloughed said fuck it and finally started the process of adopting a dog (while she applies for domestic jobs)

Anybody else got a win (without going into toxic positivity)?

I’m really worried our sector will be a shell of itself. Is anyone else thinking of changing careers entirely? Would anyone be willing to share tips or resources?

I’m trying to think of the skills I have and how I could market them elsewhere like for domestic development-like work, universities. Also debating going into teaching or coaching.

Am I cooked? What happened to the industry, knew I should’ve studied finance 😭

For those working at IPs in DC HQ: What are the chances of us getting our jobs back if we get furloughed? How long are your orgs furloughing staff for?

Does anyone have insight into what the 90 day (or I’m assuming longer) review process will look like? For example, how they’re determining which awards to look at first?

As the title say it would make sense for there to be some severance package.

Passing on this message from a colleague. Please share with your networks, friends, and other IPs!

Are you ready to make some good trouble? We are organizing retired and former USAID and State colleagues, implementing partners, and friends to protest at the Capitol on Wednesday at 11:30 am. We will meet behind the Capitol on the sidewalk near the visitor's entrance.

We want to highlight the devastating impact of the administration's actions on aid recipients and of Congress relinquishing their responsibilities and power to Trump, as well as the damage of the psychological warfare being inflicted on Federal employees.

I find it frustrating and outrageous that IPs believe our industry can survive the destructive chaos that has been unleashed on us. I work for a larger IP, and it's still "business as usual." We're treating this as a temporary pause, assuming our Co-Ags, Contracts, and Grants will pick up where they left off once everything is settled. In the meantime, we're continuing BD work and other internal tasks, as if things will seamlessly resume.

But that’s far from reality. I see countless "Open to Work" banners on LinkedIn and peers at smaller IPs being laid off. It’s hard not to feel like we’re being strung along, kept working as long as possible before they inevitably let us go.

How are things going at development banks - esp the World Bank ?

In the hubbub surrounding the current USAID/USG situation, I've seen a lot of people asking, "What kinds of jobs can I do outside of this sector?" It's understandable, given the fact that it is (was) very possible to spend your entire career in this hyperspecific ecosystem.

But - as someone who has spent their career bouncing in and out of different parts of the development sector - I am here to tell you that it is ALSO possible to be employed outside of the world of USAID/USG implementation, to do similar work, and to not hate your job. It's not easy, but it's not impossible. If it's useful to people, I've put together a few lessons learned on how to start thinking about what your career could look like outside of the implementer world.

I am assuming this is probably mostly useful for program management staff and people with a specific functional role (like BD or comms), rather than people with a very deep technical focus who are probably more aware of what you can do with an MPH or whatever. I am coming at this from the perspective of someone who a) is American, b) has been in the post-collegiate workforce for more than ten but less than twenty years, and c) has a generalist graduate degree. I have worked for implementers, government agencies, IGOs, private sector companies (the non-implementer kind), and nonprofits. So use that to craft your own specific grain of salt.

Start by thinking about what you want to accomplish with your job, like in the world. Presumably, you joined this sector because you wanted to have a specific kind of impact on society, given that there's no way in hell you did it for the money. Perhaps you are really committed to reproductive rights access, or the growth of local economies, or helping communities adapt to climate change.

There are also ways you can work toward that outside of USAID. It might not be perfect and it might not look the way you always dreamed it would, but you'll still be trying to do what you set out to do. Towns and cities also have economic development offices. There are nonprofits and school districts that need assistance with grants management, pedagogy, design. Reproductive rights are also kind of at issue right now. The point is, you can still try to make the world a better place.

Try to abstract your skillset. If you're good at business development, yes, it means you know how to respond to a USAID proposal. It also means you know how to ask for money by explaining what the money will be used for. With some variations, that's basically the same function that's done by development and fundraising teams in museums, foundations, and nonprofits across the land. You're also probably good at following trends, predicting what your organization should do to prepare for those trends, and helping create the (money-finding) response. That is part of what business development teams do in actual businesses.

Think about what you do in your job. Simplify it. Simplify it again. You are explaining it to your next door neighbor, to your grandmother, or to your uncle's friend at a wedding somewhere. What are the basic functions of your job? What other jobs also have those functions? It may not be a 1:1 match exactly, but it gives you a place to start.

Turn the fact that your experiences are different into an asset. If you're starting in an adjacent sector or job, you will be coming without some of the background that other people have. You know what you do have? Background that THEY LACK. You're more open to different approaches, because YOU are trying a different approach. You're interdisciplinary. You draw from different perspectives. It's a feature. It's not a bug.

Be willing to learn. This is complementary (not contradictory) to the advice above. If you repurpose your skillset in an analogous job, you won't be starting from scratch. However, they probably will use different names for the same things that you know. The approaches and timelines might be different. No one likes the person who comes in and says, "Well, we did it differently at ______." Let me say it louder for the people in the back: NO ONE LIKES THAT GUY, GIRL, OR PERSON. So don't be them.

Finally... I'm not going to pretend that things aren't a steaming pile of poo right now, or that there are just mountains of jobs. They are, and there aren't. But it makes me sad to see people feel hopeless because they can't imagine a world outside of what they're doing now. You probably have more skills, and more potential, than you give yourself credit for. You can do this.

I wonder why he found that threatening?

What protections / exceptions do USAID IPs have from the WARN act when they are furloughing entire staff platforms (more than 100 people) to avoid the 30 day notice period? I know I'm hearing a lot of folks talk about furloughs, and I haven't heard anyone talk about a notice period. I know there are some exceptions, but I don't know that any of them seem to fully apply to this scenario (but IANAL so please correct me). Thanks in advance.

It seems like no one is suing the Trump administration over the blanket stop work orders on foreign aid awards -- is this true? Last week's executive order and State Department memo are blatant violations of the Impoundment Control Act, among other laws.

A huge coalition of nonprofits and state AGs sued hours after the federal payments freeze was announced, and they appear to be winning. Meanwhile, my sources in the INGO community say that no organization is willing to step up and serve as plaintiff in a similar case regarding the foreign aid freeze, which took effect days earlier, and instead everyone is just going along with the stop work orders and furloughing/firing staff. Is this right? If so, our democracy and world are in far graver trouble than I thought.

Laws don't enforce themselves, and fairness doesn't rule naturally. If no one fights for these bedrock principles, they will just wither away. Not to mention all the harm that is already transpiring from the cessation of these critical global programs.

Unless there are lawsuits underway that I just don't know about, it's time to stop being sorrowful and to demand that our organizations stand up for what we do.

I’m a finance executive for a USAID and Department of State contractor and grantee. We have over $900k in outstanding invoices and drawdowns due to be paid last week; however, we have yet to receive payment on anything. The invoices were for expenditures prior to the Stop Work Orders and Suspensions.

Our emails to our contacts have gone unanswered, and I’m left wondering how we’re supposed to make payroll without any cash in the bank. Are any other IPs facing the same issue?

This seems insane if true…

Hearing about all these layoffs happening already, but isn't it a little early? And I mean permanent layoffs. Am I missing something? We're literally still only days into this. I work for an IP that has been relatively quiet so far.

Ok everybody, fire up your burner accounts!

What’s the damage? I know JSI and a few others are having The Big Meeting™️ today. What’s the damage?

My partner works for a USAID contractor. How has the Trump administration not been sued about the foreign aid freeze, especially for contracts that are already active? Am I missing something?

2 years into International Dev course so will have 2-3 years further study before fully in the workforce. Since you are all getting made redundant and it’s likely administration will change in 4 years and funding back to normal, will that lead to significant increased opportunities for myself?

What can I do now to put myself in best opportunity for graduation, I live in Australia so opportunities relatively limited for experience

What would your elevator speech be to articulate the global impact of what’s happening and how awful it is? Imagine you’re talking to someone that isn’t directly impacted by international aid grants and thinks this is just to “reduce waste.”

It seems like the development and NGO sector might face tough times under the Trump administration, so I started thinking about how to make the best use of my skills and experience. I wondered if I could bring together others in the same boat—people with experience in the field—and start a consulting or educational company. What do you think? Do you think a lot of people will shift to consulting? Given our diverse backgrounds and expertise across so many sectors, I feel like a consulting role or even an educational job—such as developing programs in areas like health, food, agriculture, refugees, etc., for middle and high schools or maybe even publishing children's books focused on each sector—seems like a realistic option to me. Though, maybe I'm being a bit too naive and overly optimistic about it 😅🥲 Anyone interested? 😂😂

What do we think the albeit temporary good news that came from the judge blocking Trump's spending freeze? Will this have any impact on Foreign Aid? Should we expect emails from COs/AOs tomorrow?

https://www.politico.com/news/2025/01/28/donald-trump-freeze-blocked-00201082

Has anyone come across a brief script for calling members of Congress about the aid freeze? I’ve seen one for the OMB memo at 5Calls, but nothing for the international dev work, and would like to have something to share with friends and family who want to make calls in support.