Terry Gerton When we talk about last year’s closure of USAID, we oftentimes tend to focus on the policy and the programs. But your study really dives deep on the people. What did you set out to understand as you begin this research?

Jaime Oberlander I set out to understand and document what happened to the public servants who did the work for USAID. I wanted to get a sense of where they landed, how they were doing, how they were coping, and how their families were doing 15 months after being thrown into the wood chipper.

Terry Gerton You had responses from nearly 4,000 people. What does that tell you about how widespread the impact was?

Jaime Oberlander Yeah, to be honest, I was really overwhelmed by the response rate and really moved and honored to have people share a part of their story with me, even if it’s just in answering yes, no questions. It really is an honor to capture that and to represent that. But I think it really speaks to a demand and a need that the public servants who work for USAID and in international development want their story told. They want to be seen, they want to heard, and they want their impact known.

Terry Gerton And what did you hear in some of those stories about what happened to people’s jobs and financial stability after USAID was shuttered?

Jaime Oberlander Yeah, I think the trends are that it’s a long, hard and uneven recovery. That 40% of respondents had found full-time employment in the 15 months since the staff work order was issued on USAID programs. 40% had found a full-time employment in 15 months. So that means the majority are unemployed or underemployed. For those who did find employment, 67% took a pay cut. And how we address long-term unemployment is really different from short-term job loss. And the stories really vary, but they’re hard, they’re painful. There’s a lot of isolation. There’s lot of mental health issues. It’s affected not only employees, but their families. Relationships have suffered. About 11% of respondents had a relationship change, either a separation or a divorce following the dismantling of USAID. 24% of respondents said their relationship became weaker. On the flip side, 21% said their relationship became stronger, sort of those bonds forged under pressure. We also see it really differing in terms of age. When I talk about the uneven recovery, we really see it in terms of age and in terms of race, that younger employees have far greater rates of reemployment than older, more experienced colleagues. That those under 35 are employed at about 60, over 60 percent, and that those 55 and over have a 21 percent rate of reemployment. So age really matters. And I’d say qualitatively, it’s really different based on age. Those who are younger wrote about how they are still paying off their graduate school loans for a sector that’s now obsolete. And maybe if they’ve been able to pivot and employment, they’re still facing pay cuts. For those in the middle, it’s sort of a reverse Goldilocks effect where they’re too old to be competitive in a saturated job market, but too young for retirement. And those who are older and very experienced are pigeonholed into really unique government experience that isn’t readily transferable or translatable to other sectors. And I think on the far end, those who are able to retire may not be impacted financially to the same extent, but have a sense of a lost legacy that what they committed their lives and their careers to has been tarnished.

Terry Gerton Jaime Oberlander is former foreign service officer with USAID. Jamie, did you find any difference between folks who had worked as government civilians and folks who had work for commercial providers in the aid industry?

Jaime Oberlander There were small differences, but the greater trends are about the same. We still see unemployment and underemployment. We have those who worked for private sector companies have a higher rate of any employment, but we also see those who were public servants who worked for USAID directly having a greater sense of moral injury.

Terry Gerton Let’s dig into that moral injury for a moment because you looked at these psychological and physical effects. Moral injury is a term I’ve often used applied to the military in times of war. How do you apply it here in this context and why did it show up?

Jaime Oberlander Well, even if USAID officers didn’t wear the uniform, we served our country and we also served humanity, providing humanitarian assistance in natural disasters, providing assistance in conflict. We served those who are more vulnerable and moral injury is witnessing or being subject to an act that violates your deeply held personal and moral beliefs and I think that’s very much what happened to USAID, not just what happened, but how it happened. And 89% of respondents felt strongly that their deeply held moral and ethical beliefs were violated and a very strong sense of betrayal from trusted institutions.

Terry Gerton Jaime, how does moral injury show up in both psychological and physical symptoms? And how are you tracking recovery from something like that?

Jaime Oberlander Yeah, that’s a great question, and I think one that warrants more research. You know, what we see in terms of what happened to USAID was it wasn’t just a financial hit of losing a job. It was a psychological hit, but it also was compounded by moral injury, by this sense of one’s deeply held moral code being violated. And I think recovery has to look at all three of these aspects. On the one hand at the individual level, we need to reach out and support our affected members of the community. So many people in the survey responded with a sense of isolation, being isolated or estranged from family members who believed the false narratives espoused by USAID. But the longer that one is unemployed, the greater the likelihood of depression sets in. So I would say reaching out to people who are affected, and trying to see beyond with empathy that It’s more than just losing a job, that it was a deep wound. And I think also looking at programs and policies that could help, you know, we saw in the pandemic where there was a big wave of unemployment that America responded with the CARES Act with the American recovery plan and that extended unemployment insurance to those who remained unemployed. We don’t have that for federal government employees who were DOGE-ed. So thinking about what state and local governments can do to support this population. And I think the more that we can do to reach out and support each other, because it’s not just a financial hit, it’s a psychological hit.

Terry Gerton You mentioned the impact on identity, especially after years of public service in a space that apparently now is less valued than it used to be. What impact does that have as it plays out over time on individuals who were affected and their family members?

Jaime Oberlander Another great question. I think it’s something we really want to study over time. After one year or 15 months out, we see that people are really struggling. They’re struggling not only with finding a job, but they lost not only a career, but a sense of calling. So having to recalibrate is a lot of really hard work. Being in the Foreign Service and working in international development affected families, not just employees. We saw that 48% of USAID foreign service officers experienced dual job loss. So it goes from financial hardship to being a substantive shock for families. And we also see children affected. 80% of respondents noted that their children struggled. It was a really disruptive event, not just a parent losing a job, which is hard enough on its own, but for those based overseas, it was losing housing, it was having to change schools. But I think more than anything, getting back to identity, people were really proud, families were really proud of their work helping rebuild education systems, helping provide emergency food aid, helping to get small businesses off the ground as a way to alleviate poverty. So there is a real unmooring that has happened and it’s gonna take a lot of work and a lot multifaceted work. Programs that provide job search support or traditional reskilling aren’t just enough. It has to look at all of those components. It has provide social support. It has look at the psychological distress and the mental health components in addition to just translating a resume for another sector.

Terry Gerton And Jaime, what does this tell you about what happens when you dismantle a workforce built around a mission, not just a job?

Jaime Oberlander That it’s long, hard, and uneven, and the wounds are deep and real and long-lasting. There was one great quote in one of the responses that said, I really wish the world understood how resilient we are. We’ve survived disease outbreaks and coups, and we’ve been evacuated from countries. We missed weddings and funerals. We had to be really creative with how we support and grow our families in harsh environments. But there’s this deep sense of betrayal and that’s not going away and that needs to be addressed.