MA Companies Lay Off 3,700 As Coronavirus Downturn Continues

BOSTON — Massachusetts companies continued to shed workers last week, with 17 announcing layoffs totaling 3,724 for the week ending Friday. That was up from the previous week, when 14 companies announced 1,760 layoffs.

The most recent report from the Massachusetts Department of Labor showed big job losses at hotels, including 204 layoffs at the Doubletree North Shore in Danvers and 256 job cuts at the Intercontinental Hotel in Boston. But the biggest job reduction last week came from Boston University, which said Friday it was laying off 1,636 student employees.

BU said the figure accounts for student employees who work part-time campus jobs and cannot work remotely. The number does not include federal work-study jobs or regular employees of the university. The students being laid off will receive two weeks pay and students with federal work-study jobs will be paid for the rest of the semester, according to Boston University.

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It was the third straight week the number of layoffs at Massachusetts companies increased. After BU, the biggest layoff announcement came from the Westin Boston Waterfront, which cut 435 jobs March 24. Primark, the British retailer, said it would cut a total of 347 positions at its locations in Boston, Braintree and Burlington. Cirque Du Soleil cut 66 jobs in Boston and PaperSource cut 88 jobs at six locations in Massachusetts.

The layoffs came after Thursday's record number of jobless claims in Massachusetts. For the week ending March 28, 181,062 Massachusetts residents filed for unemployment, up 21.9 percent from the previous week.

More coronavirus coverage on Massachusetts Patch:

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• Massachusetts's Poorest Towns Among Hardest Hit By Coronavirus
• Coronavirus Economic Stimulus Payments: What You Need To Do In MA

Dave Copeland can be reached at dave.copeland@patch.com or by calling 617-433-7851. Follow him on Twitter (@CopeWrites) and Facebook (/copewrites).