State Farm Closing Monroe Center (LA - 1,100 Jobs Moving Or Cut)

[hatrack]

BATON ROUGE -- "State Farm Insurance will close its operations center and a large claims office in Monroe by the end of summer 2005, shipping "a lion's share" of the 1,100 jobs to Tulsa, Okla., and Columbia, Mo., as part of a consolidation effort, company officials said Wednesday.

The operations center and claims office have a combined $50 million annual payroll. The operations center performs such functions as billing and communications. State Farm is one of the largest employers in northeastern Louisiana.

Company officials cited "operating efficiencies" as the reason for the move.

EDIT

He said the company is going from 76 claims offices to 27 in the region, including a reduction in Louisiana from 20 to 12 by 2006. The company will close two claims offices in New Orleans and one each in Bossier City, Houma, Lafayette, Lake Charles, Leesville and Mandeville. That will leave four offices open in Baton Rouge, three in New Orleans and one each in Lafayette, Lake Charles, Monroe, Shreveport and Alexandria. Stephenson said he did not know how many company employees will remain in Monroe or how many were offered retirement packages or asked to transfer."

EDIT

[TNDemo]

1. What is happening with insurance companies?

There is one here that is shutting down with about 1,000 jobs, I think. My niece just graduated from college and took the first actuary test and cannot find work anywhere. There is a guy that is an actuary at HCA here we know that is about to lose his job and says there is no work of this type anywhere in town and this is a hub for that kind of work. Just curious as to why insurance is being hit so hard.

[hatrack]

2. Why, shareholder value, of course!

Can't have those EPS reports come in two cents under analysts' estimates - that would be BAAAAAAAAAD!!!

[Norquist Nemesis]

4. When you lose your job you lose your insurance too.

[slappypan]

5. outsourcing

Insurance companies are moving many jobs to places like Ireland and India — claim processing centers, IT work, etc. Brace yourselves, there is more to come.

[oscar111]

3. good riddance!

did you see the twenty/twenty or similar type show.. S F faked dr. signature, made up a scientific study, all to cheat customers. They are horrible to us! Kick them out of every state! Other ins co's will pick up the business they drop. Who needs any one company? No one does.

[mbperrin]

6. Wow! Look at that *Bush job machine go!

There they go!

[jus_the_facts]

7. Yeah that's a huge chunk o'people outta work here in my town!!!!

....I LIVE in Monroe and they're basically leavin' because we wouldn't allow them to continue to get tax incentives out the a$$...just two years ago we expanded an underdeveloped piece of land to build them a new huge multi million dollar building they're now going to just pick up and leave empty.....I SAY F*K 'EM....I'm cancelling my car insurance with them as well...this is gonna be a major loss for this area in more ways than just lost jobs.... :grr: :mad: :puke:

[pinto]

11. what's Monroe's pop? curious about the size of this loss to population.

and I agree with you, two years after a big benefit from the city they book it?

[jus_the_facts]

12. city limits about 55 to 58K.....metro area over 100,000...

.....they've been here a long time....this is a kick in the teeth to our economy....Monroe City is runnin' in the red as it is...this is really bad for us here x(

www.thenewsstar.com

[MadHound]

13. Man, I'm so sorry

I'm from Columbia Mo, and everybody thought that they would be pulling out of here instead of Monroe. I mean after all, if I remember right Monroe offered up a 33 million dollar incentive package, whereas we here in Columbia didn't offer a damn thing. Everybody here in Columbia thought for sure State Farm would be gone. I really do wonder why SF based this decision on. According to all of the numbers I've seen it would have been the logical move for them to ship everything to Monroe:shrug:

But still, I'm really sorry it happened to you folks, it sucks royally. It also indirectly affects me. My mother and step-father live in Monroe also, and though they are retired, it will still effect them also.

It is interesting to note that while Monroe is losing 1100 jobs, Tulsa is only gaining 200 jobs, and Columbia is only supposed to get 350. Sounds like State Farm went through elaborate measure just to cut it's work force in half along with its facility costs. If they're this desperate, then I think that they won't last through the next big disaster.

And as a note to TNDemo, the reasons that insurance companies are having such a rough time, raising rates, not taking new policies, and lobbying for tort reform so hard is twofold. The first is that insurance companies make the bulk of their money off of investments. They take the money that you and I give them for policy payments and they investment it in various markets. Those markets go down, or they make a risky investment and it goes bust, poof, they've lost that money. And they have lost a LOT of money in the past three years. That is the reason you've all the sudden heard the hue and cry for tort reforms. The second reason that it has been tough sledding for insurance companies is that over the past twelve years or so there have been a record number of disasters that they've had to pay out on. Hurricanes of a size and frequency not seen in a hundred years. Five hundred year record floods, tornadoes, fires, massive snow and ice fall, all in record proportions, all at the same time. Can you say Global Warming? I thought you could.

[bleedingheart]

14. It burns my buns when towns give concessions to companies

and still get a kick in the ass.

[mike1963]

8. The Tulsa TV station said this morning "about 200 moving here"

I guess 200 is now a "lion's share" of a thousand. Meanwhile, Git 'n Go (convenience store chain) is in bankruptcy & closing most of their stores. One of them was robbed last night, the girl who was working there was interviewed, she was scared shitless and said she has a college degree and can't get any other kind of job. Everything is just peachy.
:eyes:

[DevilsAdvocate2]

9. Must be a liberal arts degree

What's her degree in, art history? If so, about the only thing you can do with that degree, or one similar to it, is get a doctorate & teach or ask, "Would you like fries with that?".

[BiggJawn]

10. But my Premium keeps going up, up, up....

I HATE insurance companies. "Peace of Mind" my ass!

[0007]

15. Is Halliburton hiring?