UPMC will lay off 100 employees and eliminate 200 vacant positions as part of its ongoing restructuring efforts. In a statement confirming the plans to WESA, UPMC said it was a step to eliminate redundancies in its workforce.
“Targeted adjustments are frequently made to improve organizational efficiencies and eliminate redundancies,” a UPMC spokesperson said. “About 200 unfilled positions and about 100 active employees throughout the 100,000-person UPMC system may be affected.”
UPMC declined to specify what positions, departments or hospitals would be impacted by the layoffs, but they’re expected to affect about 0.01% of the system’s workforce.
The announcement comes months after a much larger round of layoffs cut 1,000 jobs from the system in April, reflecting about 1% of UPMC’s workforce. Those layoffs included positions in the health care system, insurance services and other business units. UPMC also closed vacant positions at that time.
The layoffs come amid a changing financial landscape in health care and health insurance marked by drying up federal pandemic aid coupled with rising labor and supplies costs.
UPMC’s revenue was $27.7 billion in 2023, but it also saw nearly $200 million in operating losses last year with a lower operating margin. The financial picture doesn’t appear to be improving so far this year. The company reported a $313 million operating loss in the first six months of 2024, according to financial records. UPMC posted a $14.5 million operating gain during the same time last year.
The recent layoffs mark the first system-wide reductions since the 2008 financial crisis when a much smaller UPMC laid off hundreds of employees. The system now comprises health care providers across Pennsylvania as well as Maryland and New York.
UPMC did not provide a geographical breakdown of this week’s layoffs.
