Healey appoints secretary of labor
Governor Maura Healey on Wednesday announced she is appointing Lauren Jones, executive vice president of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, to serve as the next secretary of labor and workforce development.
The appointment, the first since Healey was sworn in last week, is her eighth Cabinet pick as she works to fill senior executive branch positions in the new administration.
The hire signals a continued focus on the business community, which Healey emphasized on the campaign trail and in her inaugural address.
On Wednesday, during a visit to Framingham’s Department of Public Works, Healey spoke emphatically about the state’s workforce shortage and how she envisions Jones mitigating it.
“It’s a real issue,” Healey said in a garage filled with massive yellow snow plows and salt trucks. “We know that numbers [of workers] are down. Numbers are down across the state and I’m sure there are struggles, too, on the local levels hiring folks. . . . Lauren Jones will be responsible for, among other things, making sure that we are driving that pipeline. That we are recruiting, that we are training, that we are retraining, and that we are holding on to workers.”
Before she joined the Massachusetts Business Roundtable in February 2021, Jones held a few other related roles, including several at the City of Boston under former mayor Martin J. Walsh, who is currently serving as President Biden’s secretary of labor.
There, she worked in the Office of Economic Development, Office of Health and Human Services, and as an adviser to Walsh.
From 2009 to 2013, Jones worked in former governor Deval Patrick’s administration in the Office of Business Development, in Patrick and former lieutenant governor Tim Murray’s office, as well as in the Office of Labor and Workforce Development.
“Finding skilled talent for indemand roles is among the greatest challenges impacting Massachusetts’ economy,” Jones said in a statement. “We need to harness the full potential of our community colleges, technical schools, apprenticeship programs and untapped talent to train the next generation of workers who will drive our economy, and we need to make sure those workers’ rights are protected each step of the way.”
Jones holds a master’s degree from Northeastern University and a bachelor’s degree from Providence College. She lives in Boston.
Bob Bower, a top adviser for the AFL-CIO, served on the new administration’s transition team with Jones, and said Healey “couldn’t have picked a better person” for the role.
“She has been a really powerful voice about inclusion and making sure that the workforce system looks at all this stuff with an equitable lens,” said Bower, who also served with her on the Massachusetts Workforce Association board. “She has done a tremendous job getting everyone on board.”