The fate of hundreds of staff after Obama leaves the White House

Donald Trump's surprise victory has all but ended the possibility that any of Obama's nearly 500 staff members will continue working in the White House.

Their BlackBerrys are still buzzing, day and night. Right now, President Obama’s aides have a lot on their plate, from dealing with world leaders to managing distant wars to making decisions that affect the country. All of that will come to a complete end on January 20, 2017 — Inauguration Day.

President Obama's assistant team (AP Photo)

In hopes of ensuring his staffers find good jobs in the future, President Obama and his team invited representatives from Facebook, Instagram and other companies to “educate” White House workers about the job market, AP reported. LinkedIn executives also helped White House staffers identify ways to “sell” their skills.

Georgetown University, not far from the White House, also designed a customized career development program called "Future 44" - Barack Obama is the 44th President of the United States. This program will teach Obama administration staff how to settle into life after the White House.

“You have to go through a withdrawal period,” said Michael Wear, who served under President Obama for four years. “It’s like my brain, after working so many hours and having to focus so hard on so many things, gets forgetful. Like, even though I’m wearing my glasses, I keep asking my wife where my glasses are.”

Even before the election, few of President Obama’s aides expected to stay on in the new administration. Some staffers were exhausted and expected that even if Hillary Clinton won, she would want to install her own team. But Donald Trump’s surprise victory effectively ended the possibility that any of Obama’s nearly 500 staffers would stay on in the White House.

For those who devoted their lives to President Obama during his eight years in office, who often skipped vacations and family reunions, Donald Trump’s victory was a blow. And with Republicans now in control of both the Senate and the House, the chances of Obama-era aides landing government jobs are even slimmer.

At Georgetown University, 271 Obama appointees have participated in Future 44, a free program funded by anonymous donors. Participants sign up for four two-hour sessions or an eight-hour intensive program.

Many of the outgoing White House staffers are expected to move to the San Francisco and New York areas, where high-tech jobs and cultural sensitivities intersect with the Obama White House culture. They will join dozens of other former Obama aides who now work for Google, Amazon, Vice, Snapchat and the like.

Ivan Adler, a headhunter at the McCormick Group, which specializes in government affairs, said most White House staffers end up in one of two jobs: consulting firms or lobbying firms or organizations like trade associations, think tanks and nonprofits.

For Wear, who left the Obama orbit in 2013 after the president was re-elected to a second term, life after the White House has involved running his own consulting firm and writing a forthcoming book, “Reclaiming Hope,” about the intersection of trust and politics in the White House.

"I'm healthier since leaving the White House. I'm enjoying life right now," Wear said.

According to Vietnamnet