Museum of Fine Arts, Boston to Lay Off Over 30 Staffers

The layoffs will impact 6.3% of the museum's workforce.

Jan. 28, 2026 at 5:47pm

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The Museum of Fine Arts, Boston has announced plans to lay off over 30 staffers, citing an "unsustainable deficit" and the need to restructure for financial sustainability. The layoffs will take effect this Friday and impact around 6.3% of the museum's workforce.

Why it matters

The layoffs at the prestigious Museum of Fine Arts, Boston highlight the ongoing financial challenges facing cultural institutions, even those with significant resources and endowments. The museum had previously undergone layoffs and restructuring in 2020 due to the pandemic, and these latest cuts suggest the recovery has been difficult.

The details

According to an internal email obtained by WBUR, the museum said it faces "an unsustainable deficit that we have committed to resolve" and that the only path to "financial sustainability" was to "implement a restructuring." The museum confirmed the layoffs will impact around 30 staffers, or 6.3% of its workforce.

  • The layoffs are set to take effect this Friday, January 31, 2026.

The players

Museum of Fine Arts, Boston

A renowned art museum located in Boston, Massachusetts that houses one of the largest art collections in the world.

MFA, Boston Union

The labor union representing employees at the Museum of Fine Arts, Boston.

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What they’re saying

“The Union only learned about the layoff late in the day yesterday. The Museum only just notified us about who in our union is specifically on the layoff list. We are deeply concerned to hear about the layoffs of sixteen of our members and seventeen other employees of the Museum and we have asked the Museum to provide detailed information about the reasons for the layoffs and what steps they could have taken to avoid this drastic step.”

— MFA, Boston Union (Instagram)

What’s next

The MFA, Boston Union says it expects to meet and bargain with the museum to try to avert the layoffs, retain workforce diversity, and ensure there is shared sacrifice from museum leadership.

The takeaway

The layoffs at the prestigious Museum of Fine Arts, Boston underscore the ongoing financial challenges facing cultural institutions, even those with significant resources. The museum's decision to restructure and cut over 30 jobs highlights the difficult tradeoffs institutions must make to achieve financial sustainability while remaining true to their mission.