Credible estimates are that 10-15% of employees (7,000-10,000 people) will be laid off over the next several months, with the process beginning today (1/29). Cigna is in the mess we’re in because we:
1) have no actual long-term strategy,
2) have significantly under-invested in our systems and products for years, focusing only on short term earnings, and
3) have let our operating expenses get too high, primarily due to the systems inefficiencies caused by #2.
The CEO, President, and CFO are directly accountable for all three factors. Yet it is all of us who are paying the price for poor, out-of-touch leadership, incompetence and personal greed (prioritizing short-term stock price performance over long-term company viability to maximize their own incentive compensation).
The main reason cited for all the layoffs is that our expenses are out of control. Hmm… who was the CFO the majority of the last 5 years while that was happening? Oh right, it was Brian Evanko. So he let it get out of control - and then got promoted to president?? It was maddening to hear him tell us in the December town hall that our expenses were out of control, as if he had no idea how it happened and it was a surprise to him. The lack of self-awareness and accountability was stunning.
In 2024 David Cordani made more than $23 million and Brian Evanko made over $10 million. Since the odds are very low that they’ll get fired by the Board of Directors for chronic mis-management, does anyone want to bet that at least their 2025 bonuses and incentive awards will get cut as part of the overall cost cutting and poor company performance?
Hmmm, no? Me either. I expect they’ll just reward themselves with more massive bonuses and stock awards rather than being held accountable for the situation they put the company in.
Good luck to both those who will lose their jobs and those who will be left behind to try to salvage this mess with far fewer resources and devastatingly low morale. We’ll each know which group we’re in soon.