FHI 360 furloughs more NC staff as USAID hits continue at Durham research nonprofit
FHI 360, a global research nonprofit headquartered in downtown Durham, announced more indefinite furloughs Monday, citing continued frozen payments from the U.S. Agency for International Development.
After furloughing a third of its U.S. staff in February, the organization said 45% of its domestic workforce is now on leave, including more than 150 people in North Carolina.
“It is shocking to witness the rapid loss of technical expertise that is relied upon around the world to address critical global challenges, including combating infectious diseases and food insecurity as well as improving maternal and child health,” FHI 360 spokesperson Jennifer Garcia said in an email.
Founded in 1971 at the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill, FHI 360 today operates from the American Tobacco Campus in Durham. It recently had more than 4,000 workers worldwide, with projects including early childhood nutrition in Jordan and youth education in Congo.
Most of FHI 360’s revenue comes from one federal source. According to its latest annual report, the Triangle nonprofit generated $869 million in 2023, with two-thirds coming through USAID. The next largest revenue source for FHI 360, the U.S. National Institutes of Health, accounted for only 8%.
The new Trump administration has targeted USAID with widespread cuts. On Feb. 3, the White House released a statement titled “At USAID, Waste and Abuse Runs Deep” in which it listed projects it opposed, including several related to sexual orientation and gender identity.
On Monday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said 83% of USAID programs will be canceled, totaling around 5,200 contracts. In announcing this decision on X, Rubio credited Trump and Elon Musk’s Department of Government Efficiency for “this overdue and historic reform.”
FHI 360 hasn’t set a date for when its furloughs may end, Garcia said. The nonprofit is a member of the Global Health Coalition, one of the plaintiffs challenging the federal government over suspending nearly $2 billion in USAID payments that were appropriated by Congress.
“We are waiting for payments from work done previously, including invoices dating back to December,” Garcia told The News & Observer.
Last week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that U.S. District Judge Amir Ali was authorized to order the Trump administration to unfreeze money owed to USAID contractors. On Monday, Ali ordered these contractors be paid for work completed prior to Feb. 13.
However, the ruling did not mandate future payments on canceled USAID programs.
Another prominent Durham-based research nonprofit, RTI International, told The N&O it too is eligible to receive payments USAID had previously committed. While RTI receives a small portion of its overall revenue from the embattled federal foreign assistance agency, it too has cut staff in recent weeks, including layoffs last week affecting more than 80 North Carolina workers. RTI has now laid off more than 400 employees, including more than 140 in North Carolina.
This story was originally published March 11, 2025 at 11:32 AM.
