Mass General Brigham has begun another round of layoffs, its second in under two years, as the Massachusetts health care employer directs departments to reduce spending. Some pediatricians at Mass Eye and Ear are affected, though the system has offered them jobs at other locations within its network.
The extent of the reductions remains undisclosed. Spokesperson Jessica Pastore told The Boston Globe that layoffs started the previous week but declined to provide either a tally of positions already eliminated or a target for future cuts.
The nonprofit employs more than 80,000 people and ranks as Massachusetts’ biggest private employer and health system. Division leaders and department managers have been instructed to trim budgets, but Pastore did not identify a required savings amount.
In a statement reported by the Globe, MGB described the changes as part of an effort to put its finances on a more sustainable footing while preserving its ability to support care, research, education and investment in its workforce and programs.
The pediatricians’ situation illustrates that the changes extend beyond eliminating positions. MGB said some physicians at the specialty hospital had been offered opportunities elsewhere in the organization. It was not reported whether those physicians have accepted the offers.
Operating finances drive reductions
The Globe reported that executives are focusing on the narrow gap between revenue from the system’s core operations and the expenses associated with that work. Investment earnings improve MGB’s overall financial results, but executives have said those returns should not be used to sustain day-to-day operations.
For fiscal 2025, the system recorded $59 million in operating income, equal to a margin of 0.3%, according to the Globe. Its total margin, which included investment income, was $2.38 billion.
An August memo described the pressures behind that difference. System leaders said nearly all of the organization’s $22.8 billion in operating revenue was absorbed by care and research expenses. Labor accounted for about 65% of those costs, the Globe reported, and expenses had outpaced growth in revenue from care for many years.
Executives identified an operating margin of roughly 1.5%, or $300 million, as a financial goal. They linked stronger operating results to the ability to replace equipment, maintain facilities and make other investments supporting care.
The latest reductions also coincide with a broader restructuring. MGB is roughly three years into combining clinical departments across its flagship institutions: Mass General and Brigham and Women’s. The network includes more than a dozen hospitals.
The Globe reported that MGB eliminated approximately 1,500 positions during two rounds of cuts in February and March 2025. Whether the current effort will reach a similar scale is not yet known.
What’s next: Pastore told the Globe that the number of additional job reductions will depend on departments’ ability to identify savings beyond staffing. The system is also evaluating where and how it provides services, with possible changes ranging from moving programs to ending some offerings.
