Vermont Foodbank, the state’s largest food assistance provider, cut nearly 10% of its workforce two weeks ago.
The organization let seven employees go and discontinued two vacant positions. CEO John Sayles said Tuesday that the cuts were necessary for the company to avoid financial hardship down the line, as food banks become more stretched nationwide.
The Covid-19 pandemic more than doubled the food bank’s level of financial resourcing for a time, Sayles said, through increases in federal, state and philanthropic support. The organization grew from 60 to 88 employees, reaching its peak in 2023.
“We had to do what was in front of us,” Sayles said of the organization’s growth at the time.
Now, the picture is different — many COVID-era public programs have ended.
In addition, Vermont Foodbank said it was losing roughly 20% of its USDA food stock earlier this year due to federal budget cuts.
This restructuring also comes as cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program threaten to leave thousands of enrolled Vermonters without coverage. About 65,000 people currently receive aid from SNAP across the state.
The timeline of these changes is uncertain, and Sayles said he was concerned that higher burdens on food shelves will collide with the need to downsize. “It really is hard to predict when and how things are going to roll out,” Sayles said.
The layoffs are intended to put the organization in a more sustainable position so “we can do the best we can to meet the need,” he said.
It’s unclear how much the food bank will immediately save through restructuring. Sayles estimated the personnel costs for the food bank will be roughly the same next year, even with fewer employees.
Sayles said some pay raises were necessary to cover cost-of-labor adjustments, rising health care premiums and the need to retain talent.
The organization said it will try to protect against gaps in services, but the layoffs may put some parts of the operation under stress.
“Everyone was doing work that was having an impact,” Sayles said.
He added that Vermont Foodbank had been in touch with a number of local partners to discuss how they might be able to pick up the slack.
“Whether every single thing that the food bank did is going to continue to happen, I can’t say,” Sayles said.
Disclosure: VTDigger has partnered with the Vermont Foodbank during member drives.
