Blog / Trends

Employee Well-Being at Risk During Times of Hyper Disruption

by Jill Roof, Anneliese Orr, and Mandy Sharp Eizinger
Employee Well-Being at Risk During Times of Hyper Disruption
11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2026 report coverThis article was first published in our 11 Trends in Philanthropy for 2026 report. Explore the full report here.

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Nonprofit organizations, which provide vital services to their communities, often face funding barriers and other challenges when attempting to invest in the well-being of their most valuable resource: their staff. Just last year, the Johnson Center identified the workforce crisis facing the nonprofit sector as a trend (Sharp Eizinger & Roof, 2025) because of the many threats to practitioners’ mental, emotional, and physical well-being. Ultimately, these threats also put nonprofit programs and the people who rely on them at risk.

The nonprofit workforce provides critical services and programs to individuals and families in need; yet, in 2022, 22% of nonprofit employees lived in households unable to afford basic necessities, according to the 2024 report from Independent Sector and United for ALICE, ALICE in the Nonprofit Workforce: A Study of Financial Hardship. This crisis has been exacerbated by the current climate of policy changes and budget cuts that have limited the sector’s ability to operate. As the Urban Institute reports (Tomasko, 2025), recent executive orders and federal funding cuts have created a state of perilous uncertainty for nonprofit practitioners.

Burnout Among Nonprofit Leaders and Staff

The Center for Effective Philanthropy’s (CEP) State of Nonprofits 2025 (Smith Arrillaga et al., 2025) report found that “Nonprofit leaders describe difficulty pursuing their missions effectively in an environment that presents multiple significant challenges to their ability to operate.”

Not surprisingly, 86% of nonprofit leaders in CEP’s study express some level of concern about their own burnout, and 89% say burnout is impacting their staff. Reporting for The Chronicle of Philanthropy, Stephanie Beasley (2025) highlights how the government shutdown in late 2025 added stress to an already overwhelmed sector and workforce, citing all the uncertainty as “a mental and emotional drag on people who just want to get out of bed in the morning and help their neighbors have a better life.”

Survival: Programs and Lives Are at Stake

Nonprofit leaders know how vital employee well-being is. Since 2020, the Johnson Center has written four Trends essays noting the growing movement of funders and nonprofits working to embed wellness into the culture of organizations through co-leadership models, employee sabbaticals, and programs to set aside funds specifically for employee well-being improvements:

However, political divisions, policy changes that question the legitimacy of programs and language, and upheaval in funding sources during a time of increased service needs have created unpredictability for the sector and a new crisis for its people. In data shared by the Nonprofit Finance Fund (2025), 32% of respondents said that “providing for staff wellness” was a major or minor challenge for their organization.

Organizations are rapidly preparing for all possible situations. This year, the Minnesota Council of Nonprofits was one of many to share a list of “Resources to Navigate Uncertainty,” including listing guides, courses, and other organizations that could support nonprofits with scenario planning, legal and HR compliance, financial modeling, board support, data and evaluation, and more (Dunford, 2025).

From January to June 2025, at least 23,000 nonprofit staff members were laid off (Straus et al., 2025), with no more recent numbers available. Sharing results from a survey conducted in late 2025, Aparna Rae (2025) also cited,

systemic organizational instability driving widespread layoffs, an experience paradox where expertise becomes a barrier rather than an asset, accelerating brain drain as talented professionals exit the sector, broken hiring processes that dehumanize candidates, and devastating personal impacts that extend far beyond employment status (para. 4),

as some of the many dynamics driving the employment crisis inside the sector.

“It is difficult to know what the full number [of nonprofit staff experiencing layoffs] is, and more difficult to know how many of those individuals may have found new employment, but the scale of the employment crisis is only likely to grow.”

It is difficult to know what the full number is, and more difficult to know how many of those individuals may have found new employment, but the scale of the employment crisis is only likely to grow. Simultaneously, research from the Urban Institute released in October indicated that, among nationwide nonprofits this year,

  • 21% reported losing at least some government funding,
  • 27% reported experiencing a delay, pause, or freeze in government funding, and
  • 6% reported receiving a stop-work order. (Tomasko et al., 2025)

Add in the fact that an estimated 211,000 federal employees left their jobs in 2025 — “through firings, forced relocations and a ‘deferred resignation’ program” (Partnership for Public Service) — and many of those are likely seeking roles within the social sector where they can continue to serve communities, and the picture of a workforce in turmoil gets even more overwhelming.

The impact of these cuts is not philosophical. Nonprofit organizations and philanthropic workplaces are focused on survival. Nonprofit jobs and livelihoods are at stake, and in many cases, where programs are closed or defunded, the lives of program participants are also at risk.

A study in the medical journal The Lancet (Medeiros Cavalcanti et al, 2025), for example, estimates that cuts to USAID this year could lead to 14 million deaths by 2030. As Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs states, it is challenging for individuals to prioritize higher-level needs, such as psychological safety, belonging, and esteem — traits we associate with well-being — when they are struggling to meet the most basic needs of survival and security.

More Funders Understand the Importance of Employee Well-Being

The good news is that, going into 2025, an increasing number of funders were already beginning to understand and respond to this crisis. CEP’s 2024 report, How Foundations are Supporting Grantee Staff Well-Being, found that one-half of foundation leaders say their foundation is engaging in practices to support the well-being of staff at the organizations they fund. The hard news is that recent political changes and decreases in government funding levels are impacting the overall funds available to nonprofits at a time when needs for services are growing, making prioritizing well-being more difficult. And for a sector grounded in “love for humanity” — the meaning of the word “philanthropy” itself — the crises playing out in communities everywhere take their own toll.

What Comes Next

The nonprofit sector is at a critical juncture, but the future, in many ways, feels far more uncertain than ever before. Organizations must not forget the lessons of previous crises: people and groups working on the frontlines of emergent situations need rest, care, and resources.

In the decade since we began writing 11 Trends in Philanthropy, our sector has been through several globe-altering events. While it is unlikely we will ever return to a pre-pandemic operating mode, what comes next is still to be built. By centering workforce well-being, embracing structural innovation, and responding strategically to national trends, organizations can build a more resilient and effective future. The stakes are high, not just for staff, but for the communities and lives they exist to improve.

Jill Roof, M.P.A.
Jill Roof, M.P.A.
Research Manager
Jill Roof joined the Johnson Center in February 2024 as a research manager. She has a background in nonprofit work and is passionate about assisting the important work that nonprofits are doing in communities through research, evaluation, and analysis. Previously,...
Anneliese Orr
Anneliese Orr
Research Associate
Anneliese Orr joined the Johnson Center as a research associate in May 2025. Before joining the center, she worked as a programs specialist at Feeding America West Michigan where she focused on community program initiatives like the Mobile Food Pantry...
Mandy Sharp Eizinger, M.S.
Mandy Sharp Eizinger, M.S.
Program Manager
Mandy Sharp Eizinger joined the Johnson Center as a program manager in April 2020. She facilitates sector-wide learning and professional development programs. With a strengths-based approach to personal and organizational development (Developer, Connectedness, Belief, Responsibility, Empathy), Mandy is committed to...

 

REFERENCES

Beasley, S. (2025, September 30). What’s at stake for nonprofits with a government shutdown looming. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. https://www.philanthropy.com/news/whats-at-stake-for-nonprofits-with-a-government-shutdown-looming/

Medeiros Cavalcanti, D., de Oliveira Ferreira de Sales, L., Ferreira da Silva, A., Landin Basterra, E., Pena, D., Monti, C., Barreix, G., Silva, N., Vaz, P., Saute, F., Fanjul, G., Bassat, Q., Naniche, D., Macinko, J., & Rasella, D. (2025, July 19). Evaluating the impact of two decades of USAID interventions and projecting the effects of defunding on mortality up to 2030: a retrospective impact evaluation and forecasting analysis. The Lancet, 406(Issue 10500), 283–294. https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lancet/article/PIIS0140-6736(25)01186-9/fulltext

Dunford, L. (2025, February 7). Resources for navigating uncertainty. Minnesota Council of Nonprofits. https://minnesotanonprofits.org/resources-to-navigate-uncertainty

Independent Sector & United For ALICE. (2024, September 10). ALICE in the nonprofit workforce: A study of financial hardship. https://independentsector.org/resource/financial-insecurity-in-the-nonprofit-workforce/

Laramore, A. (2024, January 14). With crisis comes change: Black women and the glass cliff. 11 trends in philanthropy for 2024. Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. https://johnsoncenter.org/blog/with-crisis-comes-change-black-women-and-the-glass-cliff/

Nonprofit Finance Fund. (2025). 2025 national state of the nonprofit sector survey [Dataset]. https://nff.org/wp-content/uploads/NFF-2025-Survey-Full-Results-1.pdf

Rae, A. (2025, December 4). The invisible job crisis: America’s third-largest employer is hemorrhaging talent. Forbes. https://www.forbes.com/sites/aparnarae/2025/12/04/the-invisible-job-crisis-americas-third-largest-employer-is-hemorrhaging-talent/

Sharp Eizinger, M., & Martin, T. (2023, January 18). New organizational structure models are toppling the staff pyramid. 11 trends in philanthropy for 2023. Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University.  https://johnsoncenter.org/blog/new-organizational-structure-models-are-toppling-the-staff-pyramid/

Sharp Eizinger, M., Peterson, K., & Martin, T. (2022, January 18). Innovations in talent investment for individuals, organizations, and communities. 11 trends in philanthropy for 2022. Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. https://johnsoncenter.org/blog/innovations-in-talent-investment-for-individuals-organizations-and-communities/

Sharp Eizinger, M., & Roof, J. (2025, January 15). The nonprofit workforce is in crisis. 11 trends in philanthropy for 2025. Dorothy A. Johnson Center for Philanthropy at Grand Valley State University. https://johnsoncenter.org/blog/the-nonprofit-workforce-is-in-crisis/

Smith Arrillaga, E., Yang, E., & Im, C. (2025, May). State of nonprofits 2025: What funders need to know. The Center for Effective Philanthropy. https://cep.org/wp-content/uploads/2025/05/NVP_State-of-Nonprofits_2025.pdf

Straus, T., Herschander, S., & Haugh, E. (2025, July 10). What we know — and don’t know — about the nonprofit layoff crisis. The Chronicle of Philanthropy. https://www.philanthropy.com/news/nonprofit-layoff-tracker/

Tomasko, L. (2025, February 21). Government funding cuts put nonprofits at risk across the nation. Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/urban-wire/government-funding-cuts-put-nonprofits-risk-across-nation

Tomasko, L., Martin, H., Fallon, K., Kim, M., Faulk, L., & Boris, E. (2025, October 7). How government funding disruptions affected nonprofits in early 2025. Urban Institute. https://www.urban.org/research/publication/how-government-funding-disruptions-affected-nonprofits-early-2025