What’s next? Moving on after losing a job in International Geneva

Geneva-based United Nations employees hold slogans during a demonstration in Geneva, on May 1, 2025, over deep funding cuts. Afp Or Licensors

Over 1,300 aid workers have been laid off in Geneva over the past year. Many want to remain in Switzerland.

Simone Holladay worked for a United Nations agency for eight years. Her missions brought her to countries such as South Sudan and Yemen. Based in Geneva for the last three years, she was let go with one month’s notice in April 2025.

The reason she was given for being let go after years serving in missions in which she risked her life: “structural adjustments.”

“I was angry, disappointed and sad. I didn’t know what to do, but I knew I wanted to stay in Switzerland ” she says.

Geneva is home to some 750 international organisations, including a network of local NGOs employing a total of roughly 36,000 people from 41 countries.

Since the US withdrawal of UN funding at the beginning of 2025, more than 20,000 jobs across the UN system globally have been cut. This is on top of the UN80 reform initiative, a massive budget cut mission across the UN, which proposes roughly 6,900 job cuts and the consolidation of dozens of overlapping agencies. It is largely a response to a severe financial crisis driven by unpaid member state contributions, including from the United States.

In Geneva some 1,305 UN and NGO workers as well as consultants have been laid off since January 2025, according to the Swiss foreign ministry.

“However, if we consider the international community as a whole, including NGOs and consultants (for whom we do not have exact figures because these workers hold residence permits rather than foreign ministry legitimation cards), the number of jobs lost is certainly higher,” said  ministry spokesperson Paola Ceresetti.

High unemployment

People who have built their entire careers around the UN system and been let go face two options: find another job in Switzerland in a tight employment market, or leave the country.

According to the most recent data published by the State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO), the unemployment rate in Switzerland reached 3% in June 2026, while in the canton of Geneva it is 5% – the highest it’s been in the past decade. That compares with 2.3% in Switzerland in 2024.

“The end of employment with an international organisation results in the loss of the residency permit after a courtesy period, usually two months, which is extended only under very strict conditions,” said Céline Moreau, a lawyer in Geneva.

European Union citizens who have worked in Switzerland for more than a year can stay in the country for up to six months.I If they worked for a year, they can extend for another six months.

However, UN workers do not have the right to unemployment benefits as they do not pay taxes.

“Those affected must therefore either find another position in an international organisation, in which case they will be authorised to receive another residence permit, or find another basis to maintain a legal status in Switzerland, either through family ties or new employment,” said Moreau.

Holladay’s European Union passport meant she was able to stay in Switzerland. Networking on LinkedIn enabled her to secure a short-term contract as an operational analyst at an NGOs focused on health in Geneva.

“It is only a maternity cover, but I am grateful for what I have, as I know there are many who are still struggling. I take it one day at a time, and this whole experience was a blessing in disguise. This time gave me a chance to reconnect with myself and be clear about what I want,” she said.

Rough transition

“Looking for a job and transitioning to the private sector is not easy,” said Guillaume Stollsteiner, founder of Transition & Performance, a Swiss HR consulting firm.

He helps former UN workers in their transition to the private sector: “The majority are struggling because building a network in Switzerland takes more than two months. These people are not connected to the local job market. From the companies’ perspective, they do not really understand what international organisation employees do. There is a huge bridge to build between these two worlds.”

Anna, a former UN worker who prefers to remain anonymous and did not provide her surname, began her career as an intern in Geneva. She then spent over a decade working in conflict zones across nine countries on six continents. She moved to Switzerland in January 2025, and two weeks later found out her contract was going to end.

“With the change in the US administration, about 65% to 75% of the funding for the projects I was working on was cut overnight. It was very drastic and quite a shock to me. We had no idea how this was going to impact our jobs, our projects, and most importantly, the people in the field, for whom a lot of this funding was lifesaving,” she said.

She applied for more than 150 jobs and had six interviews, but ultimately did not succeed in landing a position. Unable to extend her stay, she had to return to the US. “I managed to start from scratch and rebuild my life, and it really taught me the power of resilience. Just because one door closes, somehow a window will open,” she said. She is now working in the private sector in Austin, Texas.

“Many people feel lost. They no longer have a sense of purpose, and don’t know where to turn. Because I worked in the UN system for 30 years, now I use the skills I learnt in diplomacy to coach women in leadership roles,” said Sima Newell, a former UNAIDS worker based in Geneva who was let go in 2017 after a burnout.

She says most of the people she worked with managed to land on their feet. “It is a lot about having patience and being driven and ambitious” she said.

Edited by Virginie Mangin/gw