There are going to be layoffs. Significant layoffs. How significant? Some teams have been given 70% targets. Every single team has a target. UHC Commercial is 30%. Just an example. Where did the target come from, and why do these targets exist? Because UnitedHealthcare are facing a $6B+ gap due to a weakened Commercial pipeline, Medicare reimbursement rates, and falling short in Medicare Stars bonuses. There are other reasons. But those are the primary ones. But how will the work get done you ask? Every team must figure out how to use AI to displace employees and how to use Optum Global to displace US-based employees. Teams are encouraged (some are mandated) to take these actions now and before 2027 so that the full "savings" can be captured. The funny part in all of this of course is that the guy who messed up Medicare was somehow promoted CEO, and the guy who hasn't made Medicare better was promoted to President. Make that make sense.
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@OP I’m currently a OSM within UMR which is E&I under O&E. We too have received the first email from Mike Baker. Today, we received an email advising that the VRSP portal is now open. I’ve been with the company going on 5 years and not sure what to make of this situation or if my job will or is safe. I couldn’t imagine OSMs within E&I being let go involuntarily as our positions are very critical and complex. Now I am not putting anything past a corporation. I just feel like the OSM positions are safe for now. Well until they get or find a way for AI to do our jobs or train offshore effectively. I could be wrong. Thoughts? This entire situation has me stressed.
I saw the VRSP email this evening for O&E. Are there any specific departments within O&E that should expect significant layoffs if not enough take the offer?
It is illegal for an organization to target disabled individuals for layoff, according to the ADA laws. The difficulty is being able to prove disabled folks were laid off for being on disability and not for other reasons. While everyone may know that was the likely reason, being able to prove it may be another story. If it can be proven, talk with an attorney folks!
@25a they just did.
@250 They would never offer another VRSP!
@250 Will this be offered to Optum as well?
A vrsp will be announced soon for some orgs. Not sure who all will be eligible but yes they are shedding as much as they can. likely will be more layoffs. Do not believe anything that comes out of HR or leadership.
@qk its not 70% reduction, its moving 70% of American jobs to II/PH
They also laid off those who were on disability
@wq well the OP has been right about everything else. And 70% is easy to get to if you're going to offshore the work.
@qk Straightforward. It's an exercise designed to drive consolidation of teams. If you reduce 3 similar functions, all by 70%, you combine them into a new function.
I got my cut notice
@10v what areas or division was affected?
@10v Which area?
layoffs started today
How is 70% possible? I think someone is giving false information.
@OP How is it possible to reduce by 70%?
@e1 ya probably right after peak season ends of course.
@dn already started. You’ll see a surge of notifications starting next week.
I have received word that there will be significant layoffs around January impacting optum tech. The c-suite is looking to start getting a return for a.i. investments. Additionally a more significant shift towards using OGA resources rather than onshore.
I am curious when they will do this.....
@d6 If you mean, are there packages being offered to people who voluntarily raise their hand to be let go, the answer is no. You would be offered nothing additional or special.
Any noise around voluntary resignations? Alot of us have been here over 20+ years and would probably take it.
@as That's the plan and you have Sandeep to thank for that. He believes everything and anything can be done just as well with AI and off shoring. And he has Steve's ear.
@b9 yes - everyone has a target. UHC, Optum, UHG. Most target start at 20% and go up from there.
Is this optum as well
You’re not wrong. C-suite has been surprisingly open about the future vision. Go back to this summer when we invited the media to show off our tech and innovation on site. In multiple articles it quotes leadership discussing how the $3b investment in AI for 2026 & 2027 will drive a frontline resource reduction of 70% by end of 2028.
It is also no secret that call volumes continue to decline as the website, app, and Avery tools continue to develop and provide a much more convenient way to answer the “simple” questions that used to funnel through the call centers.
There will always be a need to keep humans in the loop for complex questions and situations that demand empathy, care, and understanding. Positions will continue to evolve and new roles will be created, but it would be naive to assume that there wouldn’t be significant reductions and reorganizations over the next 2 years.
@ab I understand. I just can’t imagine that we can lose any more people on the front line and still sustain unless it’s all going to offshore and AI.
@OP I would not doubt this. I work for a specific market within E&I and we are being pushed by management to use Copilot more than ever. We also lost several team members over the last four months; only two of them are going to be replaced. Management is currently in the process of rearranging the responsibilities of our lower grade level team members.
@ae The short answer is internal targets vs external targets. The internal goals are more aggressive.
On the people front, "Culture" is supposed to fix it. But we all know what's in the Culture work is never actually implemented. And leaders aren't held accountable for going against culture so long as they hit numbers.
I don’t disbelieve you, you sound in the know. But how do we as a company post quarterly profits in the billions yet have to lay off this many people?
Morale is so low right now, and this sort of mismatch in messaging is exactly why employees don’t feel engaged.
@a1 If I told you how I know this, it would defeat the purpose of being anonymous and being able to share information transparently.
How do you know this if you don’t mind me asking? Is this in all areas? Thank you