A Failing Farm

I've worked for the Farm for a long time but I quit last year. The company is being run into the ground. My old office closing blindsided my buddies who still work there. State farm played their employees for fools. The metrics, making us request time off a year in advance, taking away flexibility. I remember I had to go to the hospital once and was denied by the time off system. Alcatraz would probably have been more lenient. They moved people from other offices to my old office so we thought we were safe but I smelled a rat when they started telling us to transfer if we wanted (like it was a casual offer) so I left. They've probably been planning this for YEARS.

But the truth is State Farm choose this path via senior managements own incompetency and preferences.

State Farm's agent system s---s and should've been done away with years ago, those people will give anyone a policy if it adds to their quota, even if these people are likely to stage an accident. Why are they even writing policies in known fraud areas?
State farm pays the max for auto damage. I have body shop friends and we overpay while progressive and Allstate are haggling for better deals.
State Farm is screaming they're poverty-stricken while building multi-million dollar compounds in Dallas, Phoenix, and Atlanta and refusing to let people work from home. Why can't employees work from home if they need to save costs. They don't want to do that because they're liars. They want to get rid of high salary employees and watch employees in a call center environment.

Comment! It's anonymous!

58 replies (most recent on top)

Seriously-this is your best answer to all the challenges and problems?

Yeah Arizona op’s we got VP’s that are either related to someone or knows something on someone
Trainwreck

Town Hall for VP’s
Bye bye VPs nobody in ops has any respect for them most are way over there heads.

Yes, put them all on the phones for just one week. Or forever. How can we be so harshly judged by people who don't even know the level of stress we encounter each and every day.

I would agree with you on our VP’s use to command respect a number of years ago now nothing more than a SM. And with the results they are achieving they would have been can back in the day. Sad state of affairs. Time to unload entire level and put them to work.

VP’s waste of capital. All they do is walk around and try to look busy. Heard most are getting ready to get replaced by AI. Gotta think about future u know.
Probably have same results without them.

dsckk-how could someone at your level have any idea what a VP does or doesn’t do? Also, based on your grammar and spelling you should have completed the junior college curriculum before joining the Farm.

All those analysts are needed to analyze ALL those employee metrics.

Analysts and half the executive and vp level needs to go no value. What do they do all day long on there computers. Install AI it will produce same results nothing in nothing out. Sounds familiar. Totally dysfunctional company even after all these restructures. We have so many VP’s draining the company. What a waste of money.

The amount of analyst we have is crazy, it’s time they moved them all to start handling some claims.

Here’s the deal unless you’re in agency or claims, you have no customer facing interactions. Well, unless ccc, but you can get a r—ded monkey to do a better job. Everyone else should be fired. We have 10,000 “ analysts” working here. What the f*** do they do?

Leaving next week, it feels good I wish I felt the same for everyone in my unit. Stress is k–ling everyone good people, good workers everything gets done no worries. Now everybody is leaving or looking the new associates come in and nobody wants anything to do with them. It’s like nobody cares I wish everyone at SF the best but it’s getting worse and worse it will be a completely different world in a couple of years. Been with SF on my insurance products for over 38 years just switch.

@7wjse

That's irrelevant.

I left the Farm a year ago. I'm now with a company that treats you like adults by allowing flex time, working from home twice a week, etc. And if you're a bad employee they treat you like a bad employee: no work from home, no flex time, etc. I miss the old Farm, but it's sad what's it's become. I hope they fix it and start treating employees like adults and not school children

@NgNr1M2-9Zrps - The dirty little secret is that you lose retirement benefits like Medical if you do not retire from the Farm and start taking the benefit immediately. The only thing that you actually are vested in is the defined benefit program (Pension), anything else is dependent on you retiring from the farm. So, for each person that the company pushes out before age 55, the company ends up saving money on their retirement benefits. They have a vested interest in continuous turnover in the Hubs.

How did you lose all retirement benefits being let go before 55 yrs old? Weren’t you vested?

@SOSASSfce222 Hope things are getting better for you. As someone else who is impacted, the whole thing s---s.

33 years. Not management. At 57, they can KMA. Not divorced second pension and no children. Bite me micromanaging metrics mo--ns. ;-). C Ya!

Thank you op, this is a great post.

NEWS FLASH- that was obviously a NEWS FLASH to the previous poster. THAT IS ALL.

NEWS FLASH

Please don't start posts with the phrase "News Flash." That is all.

NEWS FLASH dipshit, agency has been getting slammed for years, sh--ty rates, sh--ty claims support, sh--ty underwriting systems, sh--ty computer customer management systems yet, most of us always find a way to prosper. Why is that you ask? Well, let me tell you, we by and large are entrepreneurs who are able to adjust and prosper in a real market world. Yes we b--ch about things but then we simply get to work to make the best of our environment, might I suggest you do the same.

Agency is about to get slammed. Get your ducks in a row or suffer like the rest of the enterprise.

To the person above who was laid off right before you were 55, you didnt lose your pension. If you were there that long, you were vested already.

Any class action suits? Or a good labor attorney?

Agents going to take the biggest hit it’s coming, sales leaders gone what else can they trim

You got that right everyone should plan for there future.

State Farm doesn’t owe anyone anything.

The future is changing now and those left behind good luck should plan and not live paycheck to paycheck.

I worry about the younger associates they just live for today.

I would recommend a stronger financial planning curriculum in the future.

Agree State Farm going to be here for the next 100 years solid company

30 years with State Farm 8/1 1.8 in the 401k and IRAs Pension supplemental lived under my income and house paid off. I’m looking forward to retirement in a couple of years.

Those that live that everything will stay the same are idiots.

State Farm will be here for the next 100 years. Best company times changing should of plan for the future.Good luck to you

Hang in there zpn

30 years with the company

CPCU

Relocated 5 times

53 on my QTD date

Mobility was limited And included no HUBs

Posted for 69 openings and was the recipient of 69 impersonal no room for you emails. Kept copies of everything in case I needed the evidence for a wrongful term suit.

Got a call just before time ran out with an offer and was reassigned.

Used the relo package to sell the big house that we didn’t need any longer and to pay off all debt.

Big raise Enhanced my highest 1535 consecutive days.

55 now and will retire on my terms unless I get offered a severance first.

Still love my work but looking forward to starting my new life soon.

29ys with SF

All good to excellent reviews

CPCU

Moved for company 4 times

20mos. from turning 55

Completely mobile

Being let go unless I can find a job in next 2mos.

Life is now upside down and feel totally devastated

QTD 8/31/18

-this is so wrong

To the comment or who asked about lump sum buyouts. When Southern Zone went through Southern Zone 2012 after those employees severed most received a letter advising they could take a lump sum buyout of their pension. However it was very low bid and I would advise against it. I hope and pray pension continues for a little longer I just need a few more years then I'm gone.

21 very productive years in the northeast zone. Then I moved to the Dallas OC . I was exposed to a pitiful display of mismanagement. Micro management is an understatement, the atmosphere is akin to a sweatshop mentality. These representatives are overworked and are no longer able to give the quality service the customers deserve and paid for. I resigned and put my skills to use running my own business. It was the best decision I ever made. If anyone reading this is considering a career at State Farm I would strongly recommend you find employment elsewhere unless you enjoy abuse.

Ok, here is something from the heart.......and soul. A number of colleagues and I were hired back in the Zone days to share our industry financial sales experience to share with Agents and their Team Members to help them transition from P&C sales to needs-based Life and (at that time) Securities sales. We were hired by the Zones leadership because they realized their Agents did not have the experience or confidence to engage customers in meaningful conversations in regard to these products. We actually did pretty well - just look at the increase in assets under management before the current excuse of a CEO pulled the plug on Securities sales (what else would you expect from a bean counter who has zero experience in sales) - what a total tosser!)

So now we have the new=look Mutual Funds platform offered by State Farm to it's customers. What a crock of a joke. Leadership says to regard the new software that Agents will use with customers as equivalent to using Turbo Tax. Great! Agents are going to take an exam, and metamorphozise as Registered Investment Advisors. What investor in their own mind would trust their money to an "investment advisor" who has zero knowledge or capability to make responsible decisions regarding their hard earned money. State Farm, you are a serious JOKE!

Get rid of the Devil himself. That would be MT.

@NgNr1M2-54fzp, you must not be impacted. It doesn't get much worse than what SF is doing to thousands of employees

I’m In that division in Atlanta a lot of people never knew it was coming on the Layoff. The Bank I heard got really hammered today. I to am interviewing, I hope to secure something soon. My manager said an announcement should be coming out on Pension soon. Will miss a lot of great friends.

Are they planning on providing Lump sum payouts on Defined Benefit Plan or do we have to wait. I would rather take the lump sum than wait. 42 in Atlanta Hub got the notice today. I’m 24 year employee thanks god I got an offer last week from one of our competitors. I’m ready to leave its not the same environment everyone is paranoid. Wish my fellow colleges the best.

Right now SF has an end game in mind and that is "so more with less and do more with cheaper labor." Proximity, Systems, L&D, claims leadership, HR, AD SERVICES and the list goes on. All these people worked for SF for years and now have to sit in a cube while the jobs they are doing is posted on outside and internal JOP/My Block. SF is sending a message. One they will reduce costs and do it quickly regardless of the carnage. And two no department is safe from review. Lastly, I keep hearing about pension leaving. There is no factual basis for that. However IMO, a company that is not making money. Like none, can not continue to offer the same benefits indefinitely. I think at some point we will hear about changes to the pension if things don't change for the better.

BOTTOM LINE IS STATE FARM WANTS TO DUMP THEIR MOST TENURED AND MOST EXPENSIVE EMPLOYEES REGARDLESS OF KNOWLEDGE OR WORK ETHIC

It can be worse. That's all I have to say.

Thread regarding State Farm Insurance layoffs

A Failing Farm

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