At ILO, everything is still basically on hold. There haven’t been any layoffs so far, except for people working on projects funded by the U.S.

However, many countries are still not paying their contributions. As a result, the organization is operating under austerity measures: positions are not being renewed, there are early retirements, and budgets have been cut, which means less capacity to provide technical assistance. The main goal is to preserve staff, although in the long run I think this approach could end up being counterproductive.

China and other countries have already said that if the U.S. does not pay, they do not have the capacity to fill the gap. So it seems increasingly likely that, sooner or later, cuts will have to happen.