Worcester Business Journal

4 Worcester Business Journal | March 20, 2023 | wbjournal.com C E N T R A L M A S S I N B R I E F V E R B AT I M A leader moves on "She has worked diligently to improve operational and organizational processes and has been a visionary leader influencing significant growth within the organization." Pam Daly, Girls Inc. board of directors president, in the announcement about Victoria Waterman leaving Girls Inc. in June after 11 years of serving as CEO. Pictured is Waterman. Chief people officer "Literacy is an incredible gateway to build skills, and an interconnector across learning and development. Without it, too many are unable to fulfill their potential. To play a part in improving this for millions of children and young adults is exciting, invigorating, and an honor." Ewan McCulloch said in the press release about being named chief people officer ar Wilson Language Training Corp. in Oxford Taking over "I am highly enthusiastic about kicking off fast and strong to ramp up our technical developments, and achieve substantial milestones this year, which is why I will be scaling back my role at WPI to work full-time as CEO of AiM Medical Robotics." Gregory Fischer, professor of robotic engineering at Worcester Polytechnic Institute and head of WPI's Automation and Interventional Medicine Robotics Research Laboratory, said about taking over as CEO of AiM Medical Robotics in Worcester BY ISABEL TEHAN WBJ Staff Writer U Mass Chan Medical School is consolidating its workforce at MassBi- ologics, its Boston-based biologics and vaccine manufacturing arm. e affected posi- tions will be eliminated in 60 days. Some 26 positions will be elimi- nated, as first reported by the Boston Business Journal. e decision is a result of market-factors impacting the life sciences and manufacturing sectors, according to a statement from UMass Chan sent to the Worcester Business Journal. Most impacted roles are within the administrative and man- ufacturing realms. "While a reduction in force is always regrettable, it is a necessary step at this time, which will support the future success of MassBiologics," Sarah Wil- ley, media relations manager at UMass Chan, said in the statement. is announcement comes aer several other Central Massachusetts biomanufacturing companies have sig- naled layoffs, most recently Framing- ham-based Sanofi, which announced the layoff of 15 employees aer halting COVID vaccine production, and West- borough-based Kopin Corp. laying off 30 amid restructuring. Central Mass. unemployment on the rise Unemployment rates across Central Massachusetts increased at the start of this year, with January unemployment higher in all three of the region's metro- politan areas tracked by the state. In the Greater Worcester metro area, unemployment was at 4.2% in January, as compared to 3.4% in December, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data released March 14 by the Massachusetts Executive Office of Labor and Workforce Development. For the Framingham area, unem- ployment was up to 3.4% in January, while it was at 2.7% in December e Leominster-Gardner area saw unemployment increase to 4.8% in January from 4.0% in December. In all three areas, this continues a trend from last month's release of the data, which showed slightly increased unemployment rates across the region. January unemployment rates in Cen- tral Massachusetts remained lower than the same period last year despite their rising upward. In January 2022, unem- ployment was at 4.8% in the Worcester area, 3.9% in the Framingham area, and 5.4% in the Leominster-Gardner area. e region is in line with the majority of the state with these increased rates; across Massachusetts, the unemploy- ment rate rose from 3.3% in December to 4.1% in January. UMass Chan laying off 26 at vaccine manufacturing division PHOTO | WBJ FILE W

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