GENEVA, Switzerland — The World Health Organization (WHO) is facing a massive reduction in its global workforce, with provisional data showing that 2,371 staff members will depart the agency by the end of June 2026.
This extensive reorganization comes in direct response to significant cuts in donor funding, notably the announced withdrawal of the United States.
Data presented to member states on Wednesday revealed that global staff numbers will shrink from 9,401 in January 2025 to 7,030 by mid-2026.
This reduction includes 1,089 staff members who are leaving by natural attrition, and 1,282 staff members whose employment will be terminated.
Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus addressed the member states on Wednesday, stating that the organization is “now almost at the end of the process.”
He emphasized that the objective “has been to safeguard the core functions of the organization and align our financial and human resources with those functions, while minimizing separations to the greatest degree possible.”
Tedros also indicated that the measures taken prevented deeper cuts: “If we had not taken this approach, we estimate that we would have had to separate about 2,900 colleagues globally.”
Impact and internal concerns
The most drastic reductions will be concentrated at the organization’s Geneva headquarters, which will lose 808 workers, and the Africa regional office in Brazzaville, Republic of Congo, set to lose 774 workers.
Proportionally, the largest impacts will be felt by those in director and entry-level professional positions. However, the highest absolute number of cuts will fall on locally recruited staff and those serving in administrative and support roles.
Despite the necessity of the overhaul, the process has been internally contentious. One senior WHO official summarized the painful cuts in one word: “CHAOS.”
The official raised critical questions about the organization’s future capacity: “We have not set out what we will not do, and the narrative from the top continues to be we do more with less, which is not realistic,” the official told Devex.
The restructuring, which included the downsizing of headquarters departments and the senior leadership team, leading to the departure of prominent figures like Dr. Mike Ryan and the reassignment of others like Dr. Bruce Aylward, has been fraught with uncertainties.
Concerns over the fairness of the process led the WHO staff association in September to call for a freeze on layoffs and an independent review.
The funding crisis and future outlook
The genesis of the crisis lies in the anticipated loss of the U.S. government, historically the WHO’s largest contributor, accounting for approximately 16% of the agency’s total funding in the 2022-2023 biennium.
Facing a $600 million gap earlier this year, Tedros stated in March that the agency had “no choice but to reduce the scale of our work and workforce.”
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Looking ahead, the WHO has adopted a $4.2 billion budget for 2026-2027, representing a 14% reduction from the previous biennium.
However, funding remains precarious, with the agency still facing a $1 billion gap in secured funding.
In a staff email, the Director-General expressed optimism that new opportunities “will open up” in the future, noting that separated staff will be prioritized for those roles.
He also urged member states to close the remaining funding gap and approve future increases in assessed contributions, decisions expected long after his term concludes.
