Mass General Brigham is laying off a second round of employees this week, as part of a restructuring plan announced in February.
The organization said last month it would cut management and administrative positions to reduce redundancies and create more efficiency, in response to a projected $250 million budget shortfall in the next couple of years. Local media outlets report the cuts will affect about 1,500 employees, or just under 2% of the workforce, though the system has not confirmed numbers.
Related: Mass General Brigham to cut jobs amid $250M budget shortfall
The layoffs, which are the largest in Mass General Brigham's history, have not triggered Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification requirements.
"We are acting now to allow us to continue with planned and future investments," a Mass General Brigham spokesperson said in a statement. "We recognize the impact that this difficult decision will have on our impacted employees and Mass General Brigham is providing market competitive severance packages and benefits coverage to them."
About a year ago, Mass General Brigham began merging clinical departments and academic programs at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital to streamline operations.
Boston-based Mass General Brigham has battled years of financial challenges due to capacity constraints, rising expenses and inefficient operations. Operating losses totaled $72 million for fiscal 2024 and $48 million in fiscal 2023. The system reported $2 billion in net income in its fiscal 2024 and $1.2 billion in fiscal 2023, but the income was largely attributed to investment returns in both years.
Last year, the system successfully completed a state-mandated 18-month performance improvement plan by achieving more than $197 million in cost savings during that period. Mass General Brigham began implementing the improvement plan in October 2022 after state policymakers expressed concerns about the system's excessive spending.
