BOSTON — The state’s opioid abuse crisis is costing Massachusetts $2.5 billion a year in lost productivity from employees who aren’t showing up for work because of their addiction or who are so distracted by their addiction or need to care for an addicted family member they can’t concentrate on their jobs.
That’s one of the findings of a report released Wednesday by the business-backed Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.
The addiction crisis has cost the lives of thousands of Massachusetts residents in recent years. While it’s largely been measured by its emotional toll, the new report tries to cast the cost in economic terms.
Foundation President Eileen McAnneny said the opioid epidemic threatens to make it harder to find and keep employees in an already tight labor market.