Boston-based global health firm lays off half its staff, citing USAID funding freeze
'In this challenging moment, we remain committed to improving health and education here in the U.S. and around the world,' the spokesperson said.
Advertisement
Employees were told Wednesday that their last day with the company would be the end of the week, according to internal documents obtained by the Globe.
However, managers at JSI had warned staff that layoffs were imminent weeks earlier, after the Trump administration first announced its plans to freeze funding, according to a former JSI employee based in Boston who was laid off.
The employee, who asked not to be identified in fear of being targeted online, said that roughly 80 percent of JSI's funding came from USAID, meaning that everyone in the company was 'critically aware' of the danger posed by funding cuts. Immediately, she said, the company was forced to halt its immunization and nutrition programs.
'What I'm worried about is the projects that I supported in Pakistan and Zambia and Ethiopia,' said the employee, part of JSI's international arm. 'These projects, which had hundreds of people working on delivering life-saving services, have been cut down to four or five key staff to try and keep them on life support.'
In 2023, JSI employed 3,775 employees around the world, over 800 of whom were based in the United States, according to
Advertisement
The former employee said that further cuts at the company aren't out of the question.
'A lot of our domestic programs work with HIV populations — in particular our education and DEI programs,' she said. 'So everybody's on eggshells, waiting to see when things will happen.'
Other New England-based companies have also experienced difficulties stemming from the administration's decision to gut USAID.
The employee said she was considering independently-funded public health work, though she opined that the private sector alone would likely never have the same reach as USAID-sponsored programs.
'I want to change the narrative that these development dollars are wasteful,' she said. 'I don't know how to do that because the megaphone is so loud. I want people to understand that this is really hurting a lot of Americans. ... There's going to be residual effects and ripple down effects across the board.'
Camilo Fonseca can be reached at
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Business Insider
29 minutes ago
- Business Insider
The U.S. Stock Market Has Made an Impressive Comeback, but Will It Last?
The U.S. stock market has made an impressive comeback since its April slump. In fact, the S&P 500 (SPY), which plunged into correction territory following President Trump's historic tariffs, is now up over 19% from its April low. Carson Group's Ryan Detrick sees this early-year bottom as a sign that 2025 could still finish with strong gains. He compared the current setup to market comebacks in 2009 and 2020, when early-year declines of over 15% were followed by double-digit rallies. '2025 bottomed in April and the slingshot effect is in full motion,' Detrick said. Confident Investing Starts Here: However, some market experts are not as optimistic. Indeed, Dan Niles, the founder of Niles Investment Management, believes that while the current rally could push stocks to new record highs in the short term, risks are building for later this year. He argues that both consumers and corporations have been pulling demand forward to get ahead of price hikes, which may have artificially boosted near-term strength. For example, Niles pointed to when Apple (AAPL) rushed its shipments of iPhones from China to avoid paying tariffs. Looking ahead, Niles warned that the market is overlooking some troubling signals, such as rising Treasury yields and a weakening U.S. dollar. He expects that as the holiday season approaches and the effects of pulled-forward demand fade, stocks could face another sharp downturn. 'The further we get into the year, [investors should] get a lot more cautious and expect another big downdraft,' Niles said. As a result, he is maintaining a defensive portfolio and raising cash in order to prepare for potential volatility. There is no doubt that the next several months will test whether this rally has staying power or if it's running on borrowed time. Is SPY a Buy Right Now? Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on SPY stock based on 419 Buys, 79 Holds, and seven Sells assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. Furthermore, the average SPY price target of $663.03 per share implies 10.6% upside potential.
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Oakland County issues alert for measles exposure site in Rochester Hills
FOX 2 - The Oakland County Health Division is notifying the public about a Rochester Hills measles exposure site involving a person from another county. The exposure site is a medical office building at 3950 S. Rochester Road at the corner of South Boulevard on Tuesday, June 3, according to a release from the Oakland County Health Division. Anyone there between 8 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. may have been exposed to measles. If you think you were exposed to measles at this location on June 3, Immune Globulin (IG) treatment is effective within six days of exposure for high-risk individuals. Those considered high-risk include women who are pregnant, unvaccinated children under age 5 and those who have a weakened immune system due to illness and disease including diabetes or HIV, malnutrition and/or medications. If you are not eligible for IG, monitor symptoms through June 24. If symptoms develop, call ahead to your health care provider. Individuals born in or before 1957 are considered immune. Measles is a highly contagious, vaccine-preventable disease that is spread by direct person-to-person contact and through the air. The Health Division recommends unvaccinated individuals ages 1 year and older receive a measles vaccination to protect themselves and those around them. Anyone who doesn't have a record of two MMR vaccines, unsure if they've have been vaccinated, or unsure if you've had measles in the past, needs to contact their health care provider. Measles can live for up to two hours in the air where an infected person coughed or sneezed. Symptoms of measles usually begin 7-14 days after exposure, but can appear up to 21 days after exposure, and may include: High fever (may spike to over 104°F Cough Runny nose Red, watery eyes (conjunctivitis) Tiny white spots on the inner cheeks, gums and roof of mouth (Koplik Spots) 2-3 days after symptoms begin. A rash that is red, raised, blotchy; usually starts on face, spreads to trunk, arms and legs 3-5 days after symptoms begin. The MMR vaccine is available through some health care providers, Oakland County Health Division offices in Southfield and Pontiac, and many pharmacies. Health Division offices are located at the following addresses: North Oakland Health Center, 1200 N. Telegraph Road, Building 34 East, Pontiac South Oakland Health Center, 27725 Greenfield Road, Southfield. Health Division clinics hours are Monday, Wednesday and Friday 8:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Tuesday 9:30 a.m. – 6 p.m. and Thursday 7:30 a.m. – 5 p.m. Visit for more information on measles, or contact Nurse on Call, 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday, at 800-848-5533 or noc@
Yahoo
31 minutes ago
- Yahoo
Supreme Court Grants Musk-Less DOGE Access to Social Security Data
Elon Musk may be persona non grata at the White House, but DOGE lives on. The Supreme Court ruled on Friday that the Department of Government Efficiency should be allowed access to Social Security Administration data, lifting a previously issued injunction that blocked the department from doing so. While the court's majority did not provide a detailed explanation of their ruling, they did write, 'We conclude that, under the present circumstances, SSA may proceed to afford members of the SSA DOGE Team access to the agency records in question in order for those members to do their work.' The three liberal justices dissented, with Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson questioning the urgency of the application and expressing concerns about the potential privacy risks that would result from the ruling. She wrote, 'In essence, the 'urgency' underlying the government's stay application is the mere fact that it cannot be bothered to wait for the litigation process to play out before proceeding as it wishes.' The Trump administration had previously argued that DOGE employees needed access to SSA data in order to halt fraudulent payments, but a federal judge in Maryland ruled that DOGE being granted such access violated federal law and put millions of people's data at risk. Two unions—the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees, and the American Federation of Teachers—brought the lawsuit alongside the Alliance for Retired Americans. The groups argued that allowing DOGE broader access to individuals' personal data would violate the Privacy Act and the Administrative Procedure Act. 'The agency is obligated by the Privacy Act and its own regulations, practices, and procedures to keep that information secure—and not to share it beyond the circle of those who truly need it," their lawyers wrote. The data DOGE employees now have access to includes Social Security numbers, medical records, and tax and banking information. In her dissent, Jackson argued that the Supreme Court had 'truly lost its moorings,' by allowing the move and bending its usual standards to accommodate the Trump administration, adding, 'The Court is… unfortunately, suggesting that what would be an extraordinary request for everyone else is nothing more than an ordinary day on the docket for this Administration.'
