Wayan Vota knew something wrong.
The 20-year-old veteran of the international assistance sector, Vota has long become accustomed to the changes in the industry after the new president’s inauguration is always the period of reset, during which agencies and contractors go to the priorities coming from the administration. But this time was different.
Recently unnoticed President Trump has signed Executive order In mid -January, all foreign assistance programs through the US International Development Agency (USAID) stops. Vota expected a great shock in its Hmun company, which was mainly financed by federal grants, and estimated that this would lead to the dismissal of approximately 80% of the company. But on January 31, when he learned that he would also be included in these cuts, losing his work with most of his colleagues.
“I cried in my daughter’s hands,” he says Wealth. “All my peers, all I thought to talk to is also unemployed.”
Vota is just one of the thousands of federal workers and contractors who have lost their work this year from the financing of the Trump administration, unprecedented proposals and special layoffs. Approximately 75 000 Workers have taken the administration Delayed resignation Offer, and many others affected other ways with a promise More pain ahead. There is no official number of federal workers and contractors who were fired but 62 530 positions were cut So far this year, according to Global Forming Challenger, Grey, and Christmas. Some areas were more affected than others, and international assistance was especially a rigid blow.
After spending 24 hours on a bicycle at different stages of sadness after his dismissal, Vota decided to take action. “I woke up and said, ‘Okay, I’m not going to sit here and be crying, a mess. I’m going to get up and do something with that. “
February 1 he started a title called “Career”, “ In order to create a community for the dismissal of assistance and help them find new roles on the border of the sector. He now has more than 9,000 subscribers whose interests and specialties manages the range from II to healthcare and data analysis. Vota says a large percentage is mid-level employees who spent most of their professional life in the international development sector.
“There are people who have spent ten years or 20 years in USAID, or have received a master’s degree in international development, joined the Peace Corps, then joined USAID and just never worked anywhere else,” he says.
“Every subscriber is someone in pain”
Pivot Career is a combination of blog posts, FAQ, success history, job lists, mental health resources, discussion boards and networking.
It provides information and recommendations for former federal employees and contractors looking for a job with a focus on highlighting experience that can be valuable in another field, becoming commodity in the private sector and sharing knowledge with others. “A huge part of the career turn helps people translate their skills into terms that the private sector understands,” Vota says.
The articles on the site have headlines such as “10 ways to rethink USAID: how to translate your huge experience in corporate terms”, “Resistance is not useless”, and “what are your health insurance options now?”
Alex Collins, a social worker of public health, who specializes in the health of the mother and children, worked with Vota many years ago in a non -profit organization. When she lost her job last month, she signed a career as soon as she came out. She says that the site backed up “how incredibly valuable not only our direct networks, but also the networks that each of these people are the second level of contacts.”
While the web -site was originally intended for international development workers, Vota says its subscriber base has grown to include affected workers in other agencies such as the Veterans Department and the Education Department.
Vota has a team of eight volunteers who help him in the site, and offers free and paid subscriptions. The latter cost $ 20 per month or $ 100 annually, and includes more curator and personalized content, such as “Ama” Zoom Calls with recruits where people can ask specific questions related to job search. Vota says he uses the money that earns to reinvest in business.
“My wife is very disappointed with the fact that at this point I am a startup. All the money I earn is returning to services, processes and content for people,” he says.
Searching a community
Careers certainly offers practical tools for job seekers, but many workers say the best they go out is the point that they are not alone.
Laura Wiglswort worked as a world recruiter for health care and development in the international development sector for 25 years and has lost its work as a result of freezing financing. She was an early subscriber and participated in Vota’s workshops, studying things like to optimize her resume with AI. Due to her professional experience, she also helps others navigate the job search process.
“Hunting for a job is difficult, scary and lonely, and it can be very depressing,” she says. “Especially if you do not have a community support for people who are experiencing what you are experiencing.”
Such a feeling repeats Joel Levek, who lost the work of the federal contractor earlier this year when the USAID financing has dried. He worked at a government consulting firm Millennium Partners Consulting as a head of activity, and for four years he remained on a contract when he was fired on February 24. Levek launched his own replacement in February, where it gives people recommendations on how to use the II in the job search process. Now it also works with Vota and a career turn through guest messages and AMAS. While he evaluates a comprehensive information site, he says this is not the main reason he has subscribed.
“I found it a community,” he says. “It was a truly traumatic thing that happened for people who really work in the sector. I don’t think anyone was waiting for it. So, to be able to do a community where people look like me, and experiencing the same thing, I really made me feel that I wasn’t crazy.”
“I can’t predict the future”
While many fired federal workers are just starting a job, Vota begins to see the results of their work.
“I just have any e -mail to me today, saying,” I have subscribed because I have a job. “Oh, it was the most beautiful letter if -something! It did all my day,” he says. Its purpose is a medium -sized career subscription for the last three months, maximum. “I don’t want to have long -time members. It would be a sign of failure, not a sign of success.”
Many former international assistance workers, including Vota, still consider hope for the future of the sector, although they know what it will look different. “USAID, as an agency we knew on January 20, will not be in the future. Foreign aid, which is a greater concept of assistance in other countries, will continue,” he says.
How exactly? He is not quite sure. May pass years before cutting the financing reduction. It may also depend on the 2026 and 2028 elections. But Vota does not have time to hold the breath.
“I can’t predict the future, but I have a strong feeling that most of us should find a new career to stay alive.”
Originally this story was presented on Fortune.com
https://fortune.com/img-assets/wp-content/uploads/2025/03/Wyan-Vota.jpg?resize=1200,600
2025-03-14 08:00:00
Sara Braun
