Merit-based bureaucrats are supposed to staff the international organizations. Using official data from the UN Organizations (1996-2019), we find contradictory evidence. Our findings show that the hiring of international organizations responds to voluntary contributions from member states; with the secretary generals of the organizations having a tendency to select staff from their own countries. We also highlight the differences between the USA and China. The Chinese staff in the UN organizations primarily respond to voluntary contributions from China, whereas secretary generals whose home countries are ideologically more aligned with the USA tend to hire more staff from the USA. The effect of ideological alignment primarily works in the case of the staff from the USA.