Chemonics to lay off 500 as USAID shutdown ripples through govcon community

Chemonics International will lay off 500 employees in Washington, DC, in one of the largest workforce reductions yet tied to the Trump administration’s abrupt dismantling of the U.S. Agency for International Development, as reported by the *Washington Business Journal.*

According to a WARN notice filed with the DC Department of Employment Services, the layoffs will take place through the end of May. The firm had already furloughed 600 employees earlier this year after President Donald Trump issued an executive order pausing all foreign aid and signaling the dissolution of USAID.

The layoffs at Chemonics—one of USAID’s top contractors—highlight the cascading fallout across the federal contracting space. The firm received $1.5 billion in USAID awards in fiscal year 2024 and over $560 million so far in fiscal 2025, according to data from USAspending.gov.

The closures come as DOES, led by Elon Musk, oversees what it calls a realignment of foreign aid programs into “private-sector-led solutions.” More than 80 percent of USAID’s contracts have already been canceled, and other USAID-dependent firms have also begun trimming staff. Counterpart International plans to lay off 61 employees in the district, while Reston-based ICF International recently cut 55 jobs in Gaithersburg, Maryland. ICF had previously warned investors of a $200 million drop in revenue this year tied to contract losses.