Boston-Area Tech Layoffs Slow: A Recap of Summer’s Job Cuts at Analog Devices, CombinatoRx, and Other Firms

Ryan McBride8/17/09Comments (2)

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120 workers in September. A spokeswoman for the company—which was co-founded by renowned technology entrepreneur and MIT alum Ray Stata—told the daily broadsheet that the job cuts were part of a plan to shut down the firm’s Cambridge, MA, plant and move operations there to its facility in Wilmington.

—Peabody, MA-based Analogic (NASDAQ:ALOG) reported earlier this month that the firm plans to cut 85 jobs, or 6 percent of its global workforce, to reduce expenses. As part of the cuts, the provider of medical and security imaging technology has shuttered part of its Canton, MA, facility and will relocate some of those operations to Peabody. The cost-cutting move will save the firm about $5 million annually.

—This layoff news early last month sounded like it could result in a net gain for Bay State workers. Maynard, MA-based Monster Worldwide (NYSE:MWW), which operates the largest online jobs board in the world, said in July that it would let go a total of 160 workers globally to realign its operations. The firm said that it would lay off 50 workers from its Maynard headquarters—but it also planned to add 80 employees at its R&D shop in Cambridge’s Kendall Square to churn out new products and search technologies.

—CombinatoRx (NASDAQ:CRXX), the Cambridge-based developer of new treatments based on combinations of known drug compounds, revealed last month that it would let go 20 more workers (the company had cut more than 100 jobs since last October) on the heels of announcing a planned merger with Vancouver-based biotech Neuromed. We also talked to former CombinatoRx CEO and company founder Alexis Borisy, who said he regretted having to significantly pare down his firm’s operations to conserve cash over the past year.

—Facing a cash crunch of its own, Waltham, MA-based Oscient Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:OSCI) reported in June that it would slash … Next Page »