RTI International layoffs surpass 500 as Durham nonprofit reacts to federal funding cuts
Citing “unexpected changes in federal funding,” the Durham-based global research nonprofit RTI International announced additional layoffs Tuesday impacting 340 U.S. employees, including 177 in North Carolina.
The organization has now cut more than 500 positions since early March and said it expects to further reduce its headcount in the coming weeks as at least a third of its revenue is affected by Trump administration policies.
“Taking this step was not easy, but it’s necessary to position RTI for long-term success and strengthen our ability to serve federal, state and local government and commercial clients,” RTI International CEO Tim Gabel said in a statement. “We understand the weight of these decisions and the real impact they have on our staff members.”
Founded in 1958, RTI International was an original anchor tenant in Research Triangle Park. As of last summer, it had the ninth-largest workforce in Durham County and employed nearly 6,000 employees worldwide. However, the nonprofit is reliant on federal dollars — particularly from the United States Agency for International Development and National Institutes of Health — both of which have been eroded or stalled by the new Trump administration.
On Tuesday, RTI International sent a WARN Notice to the North Carolina Department of Commerce that it would lay off at least 525 workers at its headquarter facilities by May 1.
“RTI has received an unprecedented number of federally-funded project cancellations and work stoppages,” the organization’s chief human resources officer Bucky Fairfax wrote. “Thus far, RTU has received over 80 project cancellations, and numerous other projects have been issued Stop Work Orders.”
Fairfax said these “unprecedented events” are expected to lower RTI’s operating revenue by more than 30%.
Employers are required to file WARN letters when layoffs affect more than 500 workers. The state commerce department then coordinates with companies to help impacted workers find new opportunities.
RTI’s main client: The federal government
The federal government is RTI’s main client, accounting for 84% of its total revenue in 2022 and 2023. In a statement Tuesday, the nonprofit said government cuts and “broader market shifts” have hampered its administrative, social, statistical, environmental sciences, and international development operations.
RTI’s stated mission is “to improve the human condition by turning knowledge into practice.” It conducts thousands of projects annually, both domestic and abroad. Its range of recent programs have focused on eliminating lead and asbestos risks in North Carolina public schools and combating the disease lymphatic filariasis in Bangladesh.
But the nonprofit acknowledges it has had to adjust strategy since President Donald Trump retook office.
“RTI conducts thousands of research projects, some of which are shifting due to changes in federal grantmaking priorities,” Gabel told The News & Observer in a statement last week. “Delivering on our mission to improve the human condition with independent, data-driven solutions has always required evolving to meet the needs of our clients, including the federal government.”
USAID contracts
An independent audit showed RTI International received $168 million in USAID contracts during the 2023 fiscal year, more than 10% of its total revenue. The Trump Administration has dismantled this foreign assistance agency, putting most USAID workers on leave and freezing close to $2 billion owed to organizations like RTI.
According to the Congressional Research Service, RTI International was obligated to receive $2.3 billion from USAID for nonmilitary foreign assistance between 2013 and 2022, the sixth most among all organizations. The third most on that list was a fellow Durham-based research nonprofit, FHI 360, which has laid off close to half its U.S. workforce since the start of February.
This story was originally published March 26, 2025 at 11:09 AM.
