RTI International layoffs expected to reach at least 525 by May 1, organization says

Layoffs at RTI International are expected to grow to at least 525 in the Triangle by May 1, the Research Triangle Park-based researcher told state officials this week in a letter that provides a clearer picture of the scope of its plans in the face of federal funding cuts.

The nonprofit organization, which has been slashing staff as it grapples with the Trump administration's cuts to federal research grants, had been announcing layoffs in batches. As of Tuesday, the figure had grown to about 350. RTI’s letter to state Department of Commerce officials, released Wednesday, shows more cuts are expected.

“RTI has received an unprecedented number of federally-funded project cancellations and work stoppages,” Bucky Fairfax, RTI’s executive vice president of human relations, said in the letter.

Employers are required to inform officials of plant closures or mass layoffs under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act to help workers and officials prepare for transitions.

More than 80 of RTI’s projects have been canceled and others have been ordered stopped — a scenario that has slashed the organization’s operating revenue by almost 30%, Fairfax wrote.

RTI is assessing cuts that could come as part of Trump’s executive order seeking to close the U.S. Department of Education, one of the organization’s clients, executives tol employees this week. RTI is also closing out USAID-funded projects, which also lost funding.

“These circumstances were not reasonably foreseeable and the loss of funding was outside of RTI's control,” he wrote. “Such rapid and sweeping changes in federal funding for so many programs was not expected and occurred with little to no advance notice.”

Because of the sudden cuts and what Fairfax described as the unavailability of alternative funding, RTI had to eliminate some positions with fewer than 60 days' notice.

RTI President Tim Gabel described the federal cuts behind the layoffs as "dramatic, unexpected and sudden" in a seperate letter to employees, which was viewed by WRAL News.

“The vast majority of RTI's costs are labor costs, and no amount of belt-tightening actions can come close to off-setting the substantial drop in funding we've suddenly experienced,” he wrote.

RTI International said a round of layoffs announced this week will impact their administration, international development, and social and environmental divisions.

It’s not immediately clear what that means for the research the institute does, including programs looking into forever chemical pollution in eastern North Carolina, and efforts to rebuild Helene ravaged parts of western North Carolina.

Layoffs are expected to continue through at least May 1, Fairfax wrote, leaving open the possibility for more layoffs after that date.

"I wish I could tell you these will be the last actions we'll take," Gabel wrote. "The truth is the situation remains fluid, and we can't predict every turn. We continue to respond to federal government directives. In some cases we may see the return of federal project funding; in others we may receive new stop-work orders."