Fired NIH workers fear bleak job prospects in the private sector because their research is too specific to be retrofitted: 'No VC is going to fund that'

Nate Brough, with a mohawk and sunglasses, speaks outside with a blue sky behind him. (Credit: DOMINIC GWINN/Middle East Images/AFP—Getty Images)

• The National Institutes of Health fired about 1,200 workers as part of what President Donald Trump claimed was a cost-cutting effort. Employees who spoke with Fortune said that for fired public-health workers, there are few private-sector options. The work of many scientists is hyper-specific to their labs and can’t be readily applied elsewhere. Others say casting a wider net in a job search would mean applying to positions for which they are overqualified.

As the government purges employees, some federal workers in public health fear they won’t have better luck in the private sector.