USAid to lay off 1600 US employees in major agency overhaul
US President Donald Trump and allies allege USAid is rife with ‘fraud’. Photo / AFP
- Most employees at USAid were due to be placed on leave or fired.
- About 1600 United States-based workers will be laid off in a ‘reduction-in-force’ effort.
- A federal judge lifted an order pausing the Trump Administration’s plans to dismantle USAid.
Most employees at USAid will be placed on leave or fired today, the United States aid agency said, as President Donald Trump’s Administration ploughs ahead in slashing government spending.
About 1600 workers based in the US will be laid off in a “reduction-in-force” effort, according to a notice on the US Agency for International Development’s website.
All other staff directly hired by USAid will be placed on administrative leave globally, except those responsible for “mission-critical functions, core leadership and/or specially designated programmes”.
The move is a step forward in Trump’s effort to dismantle USAid, which has more than 10,000 employees and operates an array of humanitarian and development programmes around the world.
