The National Women’s Law Center fights for gender justice—in the courts, in public policy, and in our society.
Faces of the Forced Out
On Monday, July 14, 2025, Shyelle Harber logged on to work in her role as a corporate consultant in the government and public service sector. “I got a random calendar invite from somebody on our talent side of the firm.“ Shyelle found this calendar invite “startling.“ Shyelle knew there had been layoffs at her organization but she was in denial about what was happening. “I’m like, no, that can’t be me. Like I’m fully staffed, like I have client meetings today.” The week prior, “I think I might have billed like 70 hours,”
She recalled the shock and disbelief she experienced, thinking “no, that can’t be me,” and even recounted multiple members of her direct chain of supervision trying to reverse the decision, saying Shyelle “can’t be getting laid off.“ Shyelle was told by her employer that her job loss had “nothing to do with [her] performance.” “[In] the months leading up to this I’m seeing people get laid off, but of course, they all look like me,” Shyelle shared.
Shyelle, who holds a bachelor’s degree and a master’s in finance, as well as a Project Management Professional certification, relayed that her layoff came “around the time where a lot of government contracts and projects were getting furloughed, and, like, we were losing a lot of contracts just due to the administration and just things that were going on. And so we were kind of working double time to make sure that we could still keep the accounts that we had.” She felt as though her employer was “doing stuff to save the overall face of the company. And because of that, there were casualties.”
Shyelle’s corporate job had allowed her to become a first-time homeowner. The loss of her income, however, sent her into deep economic distress about how she would be able to continue making her mortgage payments. Despite her work experience and specialized degrees, “I went back into retail and got a part-time job,“ while continuing to search for full-time employment in her field. Shyelle “went to college and did the right thing,“ thinking this was the key to security. “I feel almost like I was kind of lied to.”
Shyelle Harber, MSF, PMP
When the powers that be, who are responsible for all of this, when they do these things, when these things happen, nobody ever talks about the person, the Black woman behind the number, like you’re, you’re not just a number. You have very real experiences tied to this.
Shyelle’s corporate job had allowed her to become a first-time homeowner. The loss of her income, however, sent her into deep economic distress about how she would be able to continue making her mortgage payments. Despite her work experience and specialized degrees, “I went back into retail and got a part-time job,“ while continuing to search for full-time employment in her field. Shyelle “went to college and did the right thing,“ thinking this was the key to security. “I feel almost like I was kind of lied to.”
Despite her education, experience, and dedication in her role, Shyelle became one of many other Black women whose livelihoods were upended in 2025 as part of the Trump administration’s systemic attacks on diverse and inclusive workplaces, public institutions, and federal jobs.
