Add Bedford and Burlington to the growing list of towns and cities across the commonwealth being hit by large layoffs in the new year.

Labcorp, a global life sciences and health care company, announced plans to lay off of 94 employees starting March 9. A reporter visited the property Tuesday, and saw no people in the building’s cavernous lobby.

The company did not respond to The Sun’s request for comment, but Bedford Town Manager Matthew Hanson said successful acquisitions can sometimes lead to the relocation or consolidation of jobs. Labcorp, which is headquartered in North Carolina, acquired Toxicon, a Bedford employer, in 2021.

Hanson said that while it’s disappointing to witness an employer’s restructuring that affects jobs in the community, the town is committed to “do everything we can to keep jobs in the Commonwealth … .”

“Our region, and Bedford in particular, have promising life sciences research and manufacturing employers that may be able to help with the re-employment of workers who are being laid off,” Hanson said by email Wednesday. “The town is ready to work with or help coordinate any efforts offered through MassHire’s Rapid Response Program to minimize the impact of those layoffs.”

Less than five miles away, Curia Global, an international pharmaceutical company operating in Burlington, announced layoffs of 81 employees starting March 10.

No one answered the door to the main office, and only a dozen cars were parked in a lot that could handle more than a hundred. A visit to some of the adjacent manufacturing facilities within the complex showed empty spaces that appeared to be either abandoned or under construction.

Several doors had lockboxes attached to railings. The small combination containers securely store keys to allow access to unoccupied properties.

A security guard said he was not authorized to speak about the layoffs and directed all inquiries to Curia’s corporate media department. Curia did not respond to a Sun request for comment, but Town Administrator John Danizio said as a municipal official it is always disappointing to learn of a company’s decision to close its operations.

“Obviously, as a human, we think about those 81 employees and their families who are directly impacted by this news,” Danizio said by email Wednesday. “Whether those employees are residents or not, they are a part of our community who have contributed to our local economy and civic life. While this closure is certainly a setback, Burlington benefits from a diverse mix of industries, which helps keep our commercial market resilient. Our Economic Development team will continue working closely with property owners and business partners to attract and retain companies that strengthen our local economy.”

The most recent layoffs join previous job losses at the Wilmington-based companies of Azurity Pharmaceuticals and Kovalus Separation Solutions that collectively laid off 155 employees this fall, as well as Charles River Laboratories and Smyth Companies LLC that laid off 140 employees in December, among other layoffs in the region.

Layoffs are publicly announced when companies file a notice under the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act, commonly known as WARN. The act requires employers with 50 or more employees to provide 60 days’ written notice before a plant closing or mass layoff, helping protect workers, their families and local communities.

Nearly 4,325 employees have been laid off by 43 companies in the seven months captured by WARN reporting for fiscal 2026 in Massachusetts. If layoff numbers continue to track, the state can expect to clock at least 7,500 layoffs for the fiscal year, which runs from July 1, 2025 to June 30, 2026.

Those numbers are higher than layoff figures in fiscal 2024, but may come in be lower than total fiscal 2025 layoff figures.

Roughly 70 companies laid off almost 7,000 employees in 2024, including in the communities of Bedford, Burlington, Chelmsford and Lowell. In that year, Lowell General Hospital laid off 251 employees and Lowell-based Graphic Packaging International LLC laid off 71 employees.

By 2025, at least 86 companies laid off 8,510 employees, including in the communities of Ayer, Bedford, Fitchburg, Lowell, Tewksbury and Tyngsboro.

That year opened with Newark Group Inc. laying off 71 Fitchburg employees. The last Bahama Breeze restaurant in New England abruptly closed its Tyngsboro doors for good, and laid off 73 employees in May. Rockland Trust acquired Lowell-based Enterprise Bank in a blockbuster deal, and announced that it was laying off 125 employees at three Lowell locations.

The bleeding continued with the shuttering of Steward Health Care’s Nashoba Valley Medical Center, hammering Ayer with more than 500 layoffs.

But the WARN numbers don’t capture the layoffs of companies below the reporting threshold, perhaps masking the true personal, personnel and economic impact to the state and its residents. So-called mom-and-pop restaurants and small businesses took some hits this year, too.

Based on a list that used to be posted to the city’s Economic Development website, there are roughly 240 restaurants, bakeries, coffee shops, bubble tea, ice cream parlors, pizza places, sandwich shops and more in the city of Lowell. An unknown number of employees lost their jobs in recent restaurant closings in Downtown Lowell.

The next WARN update will post next week.