At World Bank, humourless president and IT 'Godmother' axe thousands of consultants

 ROME – The humourless World Bank President, Ajay Banga, is axeing thousands of consultants who make up as much as 25 percent of the poverty busting agency's workforce, despite pleas to reconsider, telling staff in what many see as vacuous monthly missives merely to “buckle up – change is coming,” as he enjoys his sky-high salary and emoluments, World Bank sources say.

 Mr Banga, an American naturalised citizen with the strongest of ties to India and a Biden appointee, is gutting numerous departments at the Bank and placing his own loyalists instead in a page from the by now familiar playbook by the unaccountable princelings who run similar fiefdoms at other UN agencies such as FAO, WFP, WHO and IAEA, the sources add. As longstanding staffers and consultants find themselves on the street or brace to see if they will be on the latest hit list drawn up by the turbaned supremo and his henchwomen, employees have expressed outrage in a widely read, witty blog targeting the likes of Amy ‘the god mother’ Doherty, unpopular head of IT services.

 A senior World Bank source, speaking on condition they not be named, said that as many as 8000 consultants worldwide are being axed by the bank our of its total work force of over 20,000 worldwide, a reduction of some 25 percent in the workforce. It is not clear whether the cuts will affect the WB office in Rome, a regional hub for the southern Mediterranean. All consultants will be eliminated from the payroll of the World Bank by June 30, the source added. It is now known how many permanent staff may be laid off worldwide.

 The wry blog by disgruntled World Bank staffers can be read at https://itsstaff.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-eternal-digital-transformation...

A World Bank lead media spokesman, David Young, denied that the Bank is firing as many as 25 percent of its work force.

 “We respectfully request that the article be withdrawn, as it contains significant factual inaccuracies,” Mr Young said in an email to the Italian Insider. “There is no factual basis for the claims that the World Bank Group is ‘axeing as many as 25 percent of staff,’ ‘slashing decades of institutional knowledge and client relationships,’ ‘gutting numerous departments,’ or ‘placing loyalists.’ In addition, the quote, ‘buckle up – change is coming’ has been misattributed,” Mr Young claimed.

 “These inaccuracies form the core of the article’s narrative and underpin its headline, so we request that the article be withdrawn.”

 Mr Young did not immediately reply when asked how many employees are being let go.

 “Let me tell you about the God-Mother,” the blog founder wrote, “She arrived as Our-Master-Card's third choice. The first two candidates looked at the salary, laughed, and declined.”

 “Which makes perfect sense when you think about it. Top talent goes to Google. Second-tier talent goes to McKinsey. Third choice? That's us, baby. We're the career equivalent of ‘I guess this'll do.’”

 “You get what you pay for. We paid budget airline prices and got budget airline leadership. Except when budget airlines crash, at least it's over quickly. First thing she did? Made everyone Acting.

 Five Directors. All the Managers. Everyone.”

 "’Six months,’" she promised. "’Nine at most."

 “The Directors got confirmed eventually. After a year. Mostly external hires with CVs that read like they were written by ChatGPT having a fever dream. ‘Digital Transformation Thought Leader.’ ‘Safe Agilist Change Champion.’ ‘Strategic Ecosystem Architect.’”

 “None of them had ever worked here before. None of them understood what we actually do. But by God, they could speak in buzzwords like they were reading from a corporate bingo card.”

 “They arrived with the emotional connection of someone who'd matched with us on Tinder by accident and decided to show up to the date anyway.”

 “The Managers? Still Acting. Two years later. Still waiting. Still hoping. Still Acting.”

 “Interview processes keep restarting because someone keeps making mistakes. Post, repost, post again. It's like Groundhog Day except Bill Murray isn't here and nobody's learning anything.”

 "Now, you'd think questioning any of this would be reasonable, right?”

 “Oh, you sweet summer child.”

 “The Prince of Persia learned this lesson the expensive way. Respected leader. Actually knew what he was doing. Made the fatal error of having a functioning brain.”

 “He questioned a decision. Politely. With data. With alternatives. With that naive belief that logic matters.

 “He's gone now. Vanished like my will to live during transformation townhalls.”

  “The rest of us learned quickly: Questions aren't part of the transformation journey. Blind faith is. Nodding is. LinkedIn likes are.”

 “Questions? Those are career-limiting moves.”

 “Early on, she called an emergency meeting.”

 "’We have too many positions,’" she announced with the gravity of someone declaring war. "’We must cut costs.’"

 “We all braced ourselves. Redundancies were coming. We knew it.”

 "’Therefore,’" she continued without even a hint of irony, "’I'm opening eight new Director positions.’"

 “There was a pause. A long pause.”

 “Someone in the chat: "’I'm sorry... opening positions... for cost-cutting?’" 

 "’Exactly.’"

 “At this point, even people who've been failing maths since primary school were confused. Eight new positions equals cost-cutting? The numbers didn't just fail to add up—they packed their bags and left the country.”

 “But she'd moved on to the next slide. And we'd learned not to ask questions.”

 “The Director selection took over a year. She'd promised six months.”

 “Want to hear the absolute best part?”

 “The Sultan of Multan—one of the Acting Directors—applied for his own directorship. The one he'd been Acting in for over a year. The one he'd built. The one he knew inside and out.”

 “They rejected him ...

 “ ... It's like being dumped by your own reflection.”

 “But wait—because it gets so much better—they hired him for a different dictatorship instead. Yes, you're reading that right. Dictatorship. A completely different one.”

 “Because apparently, the best qualification for running Department X is having successfully run Department Y for a year and then being told you're not good enough for Department Y.”

 “The logic is flawless if you don't think about it.”

 “He now walks the corridors with an entourage. Two or three Storm Troopers at all times.”

 “Resistance is futile, apparently.”

 “I genuinely don't know if the Storm Troopers are for intimidation or emotional support at this point.”

 “Around this time, the Step-God-Mother arrived.

“New hire. Brought in by the God-Mother. Rumours say they knew each other before. Can't confirm, but the relationship is very... let's say mother-daughter. To us, she's the Step-God-Mother.”

“She was given an entire department: Business Administration.”

“This work used to be scattered across units. Boring stuff. Forms. Process paperwork. The kind of work you do whilst questioning your life choices.”

“The God-Mother decided it needed to be a full department. And handed it to the Step-God-Mother like a consolation prize at a carnival.”

The blog can be read at https://itsstaff.blogspot.com/2025/12/the-eternal-digital-transformation...

 In one of his recent missives to staff, entitled ‘navigating change,” Mr Banga said:  “Hi, everybody. Over the past several weeks, many of you have participated in town halls and smaller discussions about the next phase of change at the World Bank Group. I’ve also seen the recent note from the Staff Association. I want to respond directly and clearly.”

 “Let me start with the core point: change is not optional for this institution.The world we serve is moving faster, facing deeper fragility, and demanding measurable results. If we do not adapt how we work—how quickly we act, how we organize ourselves, and how we deploy our people—we will fall short of our mission and our clients. Development delayed is, quite simply, development denied.”

“From my first day here, I have been clear that we must become faster, simpler, and more impactful. That message reflects reality and is grounded in consistent feedback—from clients who need us to move faster and operate more simply; from shareholders and the G20 who expect clearer accountability and better use of capital; and from staff who have told us—repeatedly—that duplication, unclear roles, and complexity make it harder to deliver results …”

“… We are also making deliberate changes in how we use consultants. Reducing reliance on external firms, converting short-term consulting roles into staff positions where the work is core and ongoing, and rebuilding internal capacity is both good business and the decent thing to do. It strengthens the institution over the long term and creates more stable teams.”

“Each of these reforms reflects a shared goal: to become a better partner to our clients.”

“We are delivering faster and more efficiently—without sacrificing quality. Clients are telling us they are seeing the difference, and shareholders are responding positively. But our ambition to better serve our clients—and to equip the Bank to meet today’s challenges—shouldn’t depend on external prompting. We must lead our own change.”

“These changes have been communicated repeatedly—in writing, in town halls, and in direct engagement with managers and teams.”

“At the same time, it’s important to be clear: staff well-being remains a priority. Over the past year, we have taken concrete steps on childcare support, commuting allowances, medical plans, and educational loans. These are not side issues—they reflect our responsibility to treat people fairly while modernizing how we work.”

“None of this means the transition will be easy. Change creates uncertainty, and uncertainty can create anxiety. That is real, and it deserves respect.”

“At the same time, this work has been examined carefully, informed by staff and client input, and communicated consistently. The objective is not change for its own sake—it is impact, delivered faster, more consistently, and at greater scale.”

“We will continue to communicate as decisions are finalized, and we will continue to engage with managers and staff representatives to ensure processes are carried out with decency and consistent with our policies. And we will continue to move forward. Standing still is not a responsible option.”

“Every one of us is here because we care about this institution and its mission. We will not agree on every step or every choice—but we should be honest about the why, grounded in facts, and focused on the work ahead.”

“Thank you for your professionalism, your candor, and your continued commitment to the people we serve.”

“Ajay”