DC’s highly qualified workers can’t find jobs: ‘What is happening?’
Washington DC has the highest unemployment rate in the US
Washington DC has the highest unemployment rate in the US
Alicia Contreras was in Tunisia, serving as USAID's deputy country representative for Libya, when the call came: she was fired. The Trump administration had shuttered the agency's overseas operations and terminated most international staff. What Contreras couldn't have predicted was that after earning two undergraduate degrees, an MBA, and spending 17 years in public service, she would struggle to find work back home.
Contreras returned to the Washington, D.C. area last September and launched an exhaustive job search. She applied to roles across public and private sectors, targeting in-person, hybrid, and remote positions. Because she has two young children—ages three and six—she focused her search on the capital region and its neighboring states, Maryland and Virginia. Six months and nearly 100 applications later, she remains unemployed.
"The job market is pretty bad here," she said. "I got a request to do an AI video interview, but other than that, most of it has been rejections. I feel like it's saturated."
Contreras is not alone. Washington, D.C., now has its highest unemployment rate since August 2015 (excluding the pandemic), with federal workforce reductions driving the crisis. Since 2024, more than 300,000 jobs have been cut from the federal government—the region's largest employer—following a purge led by Donald Trump and delegated to Elon Musk's "Department of Government Efficiency" (Doge), which Trump framed as an effort to "eliminate waste."
By January, federal employment had fallen to its lowest level in at least a decade, triggering ripple effects across the regional economy. D.C. now leads the nation in unemployment at 6.7%, followed by California at 5.5%. Experts see little short-term relief.
Data from Indeed reflects the downturn: job postings in D.C. are 30% below pre-pandemic levels—the weakest performance of any state. "It's broad-based," said Laura Ullrich, Indeed's director of economic research. "In South Carolina, for example, we're 28% above pre-Covid. In D.C., there's a pretty broad group of sectors still struggling."
Federal grant cuts have devastated scientific research and related fields, while efforts to shrink government have led to mass terminations among federal contractors. One consulting firm employee, who requested anonymity, was laid off last January alongside 75 colleagues—85% of the firm's workforce. A graduate of Bates College and Georgetown University with a master's in science and international development, he has since completed roughly 15 interviews without securing a position.
"At the beginning, I got zero—not even a phone call," he recalled. "I was like: 'What the hell is happening?' But then I talked to friends and realized everyone was in the same boat."
A recurring theme among interviewees is the difficulty of finding roles that match their previous compensation. Many are accepting significant pay cuts or stepping down from senior positions to mid- or junior-level roles.
"I've been told 'you're overqualified' many times," said Felipe Mendy, an Argentinian veterinarian and new father who has been unemployed for two years. "At first, I thought it was language or culture—maybe I needed a U.S. degree. But then I met others from prestigious universities and top organizations like the Organization of American States or the World Bank who were working at coffee shops."
Mendy moved to Washington six years ago for his wife's job as an economist. After losing his position at a U.S. animal nutrition firm, he coached rugby, walked dogs, and consulted for a small recruitment agency while applying for roles aligned with his MBA and international experience. There, he witnessed the market's saturation firsthand: a single job posting would attract hundreds of applicants, many unqualified, overwhelming the firm's operations. Eventually, clients stopped hiring, and the agency let him go.
A month ago, Mendy and his wife made a difficult decision: they returned to Argentina, where he quickly secured a role with a Danish multinational. "With just one salary, we couldn't live in that city—it wasn't viable," he said. "After my U.S. experience, I'm a lot more valuable back home."
Affordability compounds the challenge. D.C. ranks among the nation's most expensive cities, with average two-bedroom rent at $3,100 per month. Remaining unemployed in such a high-cost environment is a luxury few can afford.
"We've had to budget a lot," said Contreras. "My husband is working three jobs. He has no choice—he has to make up for my salary, and we have to pay for childcare, our mortgage, and food." She considers herself fortunate that her family accesses healthcare through her husband's employment, avoiding out-of-pocket insurance costs.
These spending cuts reverberate through D.C.'s private sector. Services reliant on employed professionals—cleaners, gyms, restaurants—have struggled to recover, exacerbated by persistent remote work trends.
Celebrity chef José Andrés, who operates numerous D.C. restaurants, recently noted on X that restaurant closures are accelerating in 2025. "What we need is stability," he wrote. "Tariffs, tourism, ICE, etc., are affecting the economy negatively."
According to The Washington Post, 123 private companies in the D.C. area announced layoffs in 2025, affecting more than 13,000 workers—the highest annual total since the pandemic.
Beyond financial strain and career setbacks, many displaced workers grapple with disillusionment over the erosion of institutions they dedicated their careers to strengthening. For Contreras, that frustration has fueled a new direction: she is running for the Maryland House of Delegates to represent her district.
"Most of my life I've been a public servant, and I want to continue to serve people and help our communities," she said. "I don't want to just stand around and watch things fall apart. I need to fight back."