The National Institutes of Health has allowed contract employees’ work orders to lapse since the Trump administration took office in January, three sources familiar with the agency’s work told NOTUS, effectively laying off members of a group that comprises nearly half of the NIH’s workforce.
The number of workers whose contracts haven’t been renewed is unclear, but the sources told NOTUS that the cuts have already made an impact on the agency.
“Out of four or five scientists I had, we are down to two, soon to one,” said a contract employee at the NIH’s Vaccine Research Center, who requested anonymity to speak candidly. The VRC employee said they knew about 10 total people whose contracts with the NIH had recently expired and were not renewed. They didn’t know of any contract employees who had successfully renewed their contracts since January.