RTI International shrinks NC staff again under Trump. How it plans to help workers.
The Durham research nonprofit RTI International announced further layoffs Wednesday, linking these reductions to “funding shifts and new client priorities” under President Donald Trump.
RTI International says it has approximately 35% fewer workers today than at the start of the year, with the latest cuts impacting 76 employees in North Carolina. Since early March the company has laid off more than 300 workers statewide across multiple rounds, state data shows.
RTI, an original member of Research Triangle Park, has seen chunks of its revenue base evaporate since the Trump administration slashed funding to programs like the U.S. Agency for International Development, the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation. RTI previously acknowledged these policies affected at least a third of its revenue.
The federal government is RTI’s main client, accounting for 84% of its total revenue in 2023. That year, roughly $168 million (or 10% of RTI’s revenue) came through the now-gutted USAID, an independent financial audit shows. And in 2024, RTI received 92 NIH grants compared to only 15 grants so far this year.
In its proposed budget, the White House calls for shrinking NIH funding by 40%. And in March, the Trump administration ended 83% of U.S. foreign aid contracts.
“While we must streamline our operations in response to market realities and position the institute for future growth, we remain dedicated to our people, who are what makes RTI great,” the nonprofit’s CEO Tim Gabel said in a statement Wednesday.
RTI and FHI 360 scale back
As of last summer, RTI had the ninth-largest workforce in Durham County (with more than 2,000 local employees) and had nearly 6,000 workers worldwide. As it made more layoffs Wednesday, the 67-year-old organization introduced a new emergency relief fund for current and former employees.
Gabel said staff who have faced “recent financial hardship” can apply to receive up to $10,000. The organization launched the fund with $1 million and said it will match internal contributions up to another $1 million.
Founded in 1958, RTI International works with domestic and foreign clients. Its NIH grants last year included $974,000 to study a drug overdose intervention and $458,000 for preteen suicide prevention. Abroad, recent RTI projects have centered on power sector improvements in the Philippines, anti-corruption efforts in Uganda, and water service expansion in Ecuador.
Another Durham nonprofit, FHI 360, has cut its workforce multiple times in the months since Trump retook office. The organization in April notified the state it would lay off around 200 workers in Durham after federal terminations had lowered its operating revenue by around 42%.
Employers are typically obligated to provide 60 days’ notice before mass layoffs, but FHI 360 told the N.C. Department of Commerce its layoffs would need to be completed by May due to “the sudden loss of such a large portion of its funding.”
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This story was originally published May 21, 2025 at 3:33 PM.
