GENEVA: The International Organisation for Migration has started to lay off its 20 percent of staff at its Geneva headquarters due to US aid cuts.
“This would mean over 200 staff. I believe it’s more,” a current IOM employee told AFP on condition of anonymity.
The development comes just weeks after the United Nations agency, which employed approximately 22,000 people at the end of last year, issued pink slips to around 3,000 staff members.
They were among around 5,000 who had been working with the US refugee resettlement programme, which has been halted by President Donald Trump’s administration. “I can’t really describe the mood,” the employee said.
Earlier this week, staff in IOM’s media department were “lined up (for) 15-minute individual meetings to announce they were sacked”, which “turned into less than five-minute meetings”, the employee said.
A former employee, who also asked not to be named, said “dozens of staff” received notice on Thursday, “and more to follow”, adding that “entire functional units have been cut”.
According to sources IOM’s partnership programme and its information and communications technology section were among the hard-hit divisions.
IOM spokesperson acknowledged the agency was “making necessary adjustments, including proportional and balanced workplace reductions and operational efficiencies”.
“We fully recognise the profound impact this is having on both the communities we serve and our staff, and we are closely monitoring these changes and making sure that our capacity is fit for purpose,” the spokesperson said.
A current employee revealed that informal internal communications circulated among headquarters staff have informed employees that those on fixed-term contracts will be let go in June, while others with different contract types will receive at least 30 days’ notice.
These latest layoffs follow Trump’s campaign to dismantle US foreign aid contributions, which has sent shockwaves through the entire humanitarian community.
The abrupt shift in aid funding by the country that has traditionally been the largest contributor has particularly impacted the IOM.
The agency, which serves more than 280 million migrants worldwide has been depending on the United States for more than 40 percent of its annual budget.
“We have to make some really hard decisions about staff because we simply can’t afford to pay staff when we’re not actually being paid for our work,” IOM director general Amy Pope told AFP in a recent interview.
