Almost All USAID Workers to Be Placed on Administrative Depart at Friday Midnight

• USAID introduced almost all employees can be placed on administrative go away beginning Friday at midnight.
• There can be exceptions for some mission-critical features and core management.
• Elon Musk mentioned he spent the weekend feeding the company “into the wooden chipper.”

The US Company for Worldwide Growth, or USAID, will place almost all of its direct-hire workforce on administrative go away beginning Friday at midnight, in response to an electronic mail despatched to employees on Tuesday night and posted on the company’s web site.

“On Friday, February 7, 2025, at 11:59 pm (EST) all USAID direct rent personnel can be positioned on administrative go away globally,” the e-mail acknowledged, noting there could be exceptions for “designated personnel accountable for mission-critical features, core management and specifically designated applications.” These deemed important can be notified by Thursday afternoon.

For worldwide employees, the company plans to coordinate with the State Division to rearrange return journey to the US inside 30 days and terminate non-essential contracts. The e-mail indicated staff may request exceptions for private circumstances like medical points, being pregnant, or youngsters’s college schedules.

The announcement follows Secretary of State Marco Rubio’s January 24 pause on new funding authorizations and Monday’s sudden closure of USAID’s Washington workplaces. On early Monday morning, Elon Musk, who heads the Division of Authorities Effectivity, posted on X that he “spent the weekend feeding USAID into the wooden chipper.”

The modifications will reshape an company that manages about 0.47% of the federal price range in fiscal yr 2024 and oversees humanitarian applications throughout 65 international locations, together with emergency meals help and medical companies in a number of the world’s poorest areas.

“I really feel oddly OK. Like they do not have it collectively and will not any time quickly,” a 15-year veteran of the company informed Enterprise Insider shortly after the e-mail was despatched. “They do not know what the plan is for USAID or State, and are seemingly taking pleasure in dismantling world help when so many individuals rely on us worldwide for lifesaving companies. They’re doing nothing however creating extra and larger world safety issues.”

USAID, the State Division, and the White Home didn’t instantly reply to requests for remark from BI.