Johns Hopkins University announced Thursday that it will be laying more than 2,000 employees following the Trump administration’s decision to slash $800 million in funding from the US Agency for International Development (USAID).
The move aligns with President Donald Trump’s broader effort to downsize the federal government.
The majority of layoffs will affect international employees, with 1,975 job cuts across 44 countries, while 247 positions in the US will also be eliminated.
Additionally, around 100 employees will be furloughed with reduced schedules.
“This is a difficult day for our entire community,” the university stated, emphasising that the loss of funding is forcing it to “wind down critical work here in Baltimore and internationally.”
Johns Hopkins highlighted the contributions of its employees in areas such as maternal and infant care, disease prevention, and access to clean drinking water.
According to a university spokesperson, these cuts represent “the largest layoffs in the university’s history,” impacting its schools of medicine and public health, the Center for Communication Programs, and Jhpiego, an affiliated nonprofit focused on maternal health.
Affected employees will receive a 60-day notice before their terminations take effect.
The announcement has come in amid a sweeping restructuring of USAID under the Trump administration.
Earlier this week, Secretary of State Marco Rubio confirmed plans to cancel 83% of the agency’s programs and merge the remaining operations into the State Department.
Johns Hopkins, a leading research institution in Baltimore, relies on federal contracts for approximately 50% of its funding. In a message to the university community last week, President Ronald Daniels warned of the “impacts to budgets, personnel, and programs” due to the USAID cuts and confirmed that grant-related activities were already being wound down.
“Given what we are seeing, it is necessary to plan for challenges ahead,” Daniels wrote, adding that the university had “little choice but to reduce some of our work in response to the slowing and stopping of grants.”
The cuts at Johns Hopkins reflect growing concerns in higher education over the future of federal research funding in Trump’s second term. Last week, the administration pulled $400 million from Columbia University, citing concerns over antisemitism on campus.
Additionally, the National Institutes of Health recently moved to lower the maximum payments universities can request for infrastructure costs—a change that many scientists argue could harm the country’s leadership in research.
In response, several universities, including Johns Hopkins, have filed a lawsuit to challenge the NIH funding cuts.
(CNN)
ALSO READ FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
and then