Wayan Vota knew that something was wrong.
A 20 -year -old veteran of the International Aid sector, Vota has long been used to industry changes following the inauguration of a new president – there is always a period of reset during which agencies and entrepreneurs are transformed to align themselves with the priorities of the input administration. But this time was different.
The newly inaugurated president, Trump signed a executive decree In mid-January, interrupting all foreign aid programs through the American Agency for International Development (USAID). Vota anticipated a great reshuffle in his company, Homentum, which was mainly funded by federal subsidies, and estimated that it would lead to layoffs for around 80% of the company. But on January 31, it was when he discovered that it would also be included in these cuts, losing his job with most of his colleagues.
“I cried my daughter’s arms,” he said Fortune. “All my peers, all those I think about talking, were also unemployed.”
Vota is only thousands of federal workers and entrepreneurs who have lost their jobs this year due to the financing gels of the Trump administration, unprecedented resignation offers and pure and simple dismissals. Approximately 75,000 The workers accepted the administration deferred resignation offer, and many others have been affected by other ways, with the promise of No more pain to come. There is no official count for the total number of federal workers and entrepreneurs who have been dismissed, but 62,530 government positions were cut Until now this year, according to the World Outplacement Company Challenger, Gray and Christmas. Some regions have been more affected than others, and international aid was particularly hit.
After spending 24 hours cycling at various stages of grief after its layoff, Vota decided to take measures. “I woke up and said,” Okay, I’m not going to sit here and be a crying mess. ” I’m going to get up and do something. “”
On February 1, he began a substitution called “Career pivot”, “ In order to create a community to dismiss humanitarian workers and help them find new roles outside the sector. It now has more than 9,000 subscribers, whose interests and specialties perform the entire range of AI to health care and data analysis. Vota says that a large percentage is a higher level staff who have spent the majority of their professional life in the international development sector.
“There are people who spent a decade or 20 years in the USAID, or have obtained a master’s degree in international development, joined the Peace Corps, then joined USAID and never worked elsewhere,” he said.
“ Each subscriber is someone of pain ”
Career Pivot is a combination of blog articles, FAQs, successes, job lists, mental health resources, discussion forums and networking events.
It provides information and advice to former federal employees and entrepreneurs looking for work, emphasizing the highlighting of expertise that could be precious in another field, becoming marketable in the private sector and sharing knowledge with others. “A large part of the career pivot is to help people translate their skills in terms that the private sector includes,” said Vota.
The articles on the site have headlines such as “10 ways to rethink your USAID employment titles: how to translate your vast development experience in terms adapted to businesses”, “Resistance is not futile” and “What are your health insurance options now?”
Alex Collins, a social worker for public health specializing in maternal and child health, worked with Vota many years ago in a non -profit organization. When she lost her job last month, she signed up for Career Pivot as soon as she was put online. She says that the site has strengthened “how incredibly precious our immediate networks are, but the networks that each of these people provide – a second level of contacts.”
While the website was initially intended for international development workers, Vota affirms that its subscriber base has grown to include workers impacted in other agencies, such as the Ministry of Veterans and the Ministry of Education.
Vota has a team of eight volunteers who help him on the site and offers free and paid subscriptions. The latter costs $ 20 per month or $ 100 per year, and includes more organized and personalized content, like “Ama” Zoom Calls with recruiters where people can ask specific questions related to their job search. Vota says he uses the money he earns to reinvest in the company.
“My wife is very disappointed in this stage, I am a startup. All the money I earn returns in the services and processes and content of people, ”he says.
Find a community
Career Pivot certainly offers practical tools for job seekers, but many workers say that the best thing they get out of it is the feeling that they are not alone.
Laura Wigglesworth worked as a global health and development recruiter in the international development sector for 25 years and has lost her job following the freezing of funding. She was a first subscriber and participated in the vota workshops, learning things like how to optimize her curriculum vitae with AI. Due to her professional experience, she also helps others navigate the job search process.
“Work hunting is intimidating and frightening and lonely, and it can be very depressing,” she says. “Especially if you do not have a support community for people who experience what you are going through.”
This feeling is taken up by Joel Levesque, who lost his job as a federal entrepreneur earlier this year when the financing of the USAID has dried. He worked at Government Consulting Firm Millennium Partners Consulting as a manager of the activities, and he had four years on his contract when he was dismissed on February 24. Levesque launched his own substitution in February, where he provides advice on how to take advantage of AI in the job search process. He is now working with Vota and Career Pivot via guest publications and AMA. Although he appreciates the complete that the information site is provided, he says that this was not the main reason why he subscribed.
“What I found is that it was a community,” he said. “It was really a rather traumatic thing that happened for people who really worked in the sector. I don’t think anyone expected this. So being able to engage in a community where people are like me, and go through the same thing, I was really felt that I was not crazy. “”
“ I cannot predict the future ”
While many have dismissed federal workers barely start their job search, Vota begins to see the results of his work.
“I just had an email sending myself by saying,” I was not registered because I have a job. Oh, it was the most beautiful email of all time! It did all my day, ”he says. His goal is for the medium career pivot subscription to last three to six months, maximum. “I don’t want to have multi -year members. It would be a mark of failure, not a brand of success. »»
Many former international workers, including Vota, always have the hope of the future of the sector, although they know that it will seem different. “USAID, like the agency we know on January 20, will not exist in the future. Foreign aid, which is the broader concept of helping other countries, will continue, “he said.
How, exactly? He is not entirely sure. It could be years before the financing cuts were reversed. This can also depend on the result of the 2026 and 2028 elections. But Vota does not have time to remember his breath.
“I cannot predict the future, but I have a strong feeling that the majority of us must find a new career just to stay alive.”
This story was initially presented on Fortune.com
