USAID Offers Workers Bonuses to Stay Until They’re Laid Off

The US Agency for International Development is offering some soon-to-be laid off workers two months of extra pay not to quit, as agency officials fret over potential fallout from workers leaving early, according to documents obtained by Bloomberg Law.

The agency sent “retention incentive” offers to about 800 staffers stationed across the globe, asking them to stay until early September to make sure the agency is appropriately shuttered, according to a copy of the notice and two USAID employees, who spoke on the condition of anonymity to avoid retaliation.

Trump issued an executive order on his first day in office freezing foreign aid programs, and a month later, furloughed most agency employees. Virtually the entire person workforce, once 10,000 people strong, will be laid off permanently this summer, with separation dates set on July 1 and Sept. 2.

The move highlights the many unforeseen challenges facing the Trump administration’s efforts to cut the federal workforce, including a dearth of essential workers. It comes as the administration plans to eliminate all overseas position by Sept. 30, the Guardian reported Tuesday.

Employees who take the incentive pay will support the “orderly draw down of agency operations,” including closing out active contracts and carrying human resources duties, a State Department spokesperson said in an email.

“These actions were taken with OPM approval and in line with OPM regulations,” the spokesperson said, referring to the Office of Personnel Management.

The notice said certain employees have been identified as “mission essential due to the critical responsibilities you hold for the safe and orderly offboarding of personnel and the handover of operations to the Department of State.” Eligible employees have until June 11 to respond.

USAID, which for more than half a century promoted global stability and US interests through aid to developing countries, was marked for closure shortly after President Donald Trump took office in January. Trump and allies, especially Elon Musk, presented it as a symbol of efforts to fight government waste and promote an “America first” doctrine that clawed back foreign assistance.

While many employees were quickly pushed out of the agency, others remained to help fold the remaining parts of the agency into the US Department of State. The offer says some employees must remain until Sept. 2 to help repatriate workers stationed abroad, process severance and final pay, and respond to “grievances and litigation.”

“These tasks must be completed by staff experienced in human resources, law, information technology, management, accounting, and security,” the memo says. “These staff are leaving the agency and if they do so in critical mass it could expose the US government to legal liability, financial loss, and reputational damage both domestically and overseas.”

One employee who accepted the offer said they would be paid roughly double their regular salary for work they would have completed anyway.

The USAID employee accepted the offer because they expected to be unemployed in September.