Thread regarding State Farm Insurance layoffs

I was with SF for 46 years before I retired. It went from a wonderful company that respected experience to a company where only numbers mattered. Every year more and more statistics and less abs less solid and experienced claim handling. Experienced people eased out and the clueless and inexperienced promoted. Dashboards, huddles, one-on-ones.... But ask a Team Mgr a claims question? Good luck getting a straight answer. They can only talk numbers. They can’t talk claims.

Our Zone planning meeting today, yes billing being taken off our plates 2021.

I think everybody has been clear on continuing to take administrative duties out of the office so agents and staff are freed up to do high balue work such as selling and servicing.

Billing overhaul already in the works, they aren’t paying everyone $10 bucks to convert to PAC for nothing. They can handle it should been done years ago.

Well if a high level source such as your SL said it it must be true. Do some critical on your own sometime.

Who hearing State Farm taking over all billing from agent offices next year? Some big changes coming my SL told me.

State Farm is like our government. It is not to ever be trusted.

@8brs there is a lot wrong with this company now but 20 years ago this was still the premier insurer to work for and to have as your insurer. The fact you are here 20 years later complaining is a sign of some mental illness. You need to get help.

Stalk ex's. Geez! That's 99 percent of SF.

And yet you are back here posting? I bet you stalk you ex’s on social media also.

This process has been going on for 25 years now. It is unbelievable some people refuse to see it. I left 20 years ago after 15 years of service to State Farm. Best decision I ever made. It saved my life.

It's so nice to be away from the KGB and Kremlin. Like working for Twitter. You have no constitution. The Borg.

Original poster is a tool. War and peace seemed like a shorter read.

There is so many random and inaccurate statements and false babble in the OP it’s sad. It just shows how many people spout narratives or opinions about things they know nothing about.

My favorite was the reference to Geico and Progressive growing 10 times more than SF. Are you aware SF has grown nearly 1.4 million autos and about 2,000,000 total policies to this point in Oct? So by your calculation, Progressive has grown 2M x 10 = 20,000,000 policies? Unreal.

Keep hitting the enter button on that screen 7.75 hours a day.

I was with the company for years doing claims. I stayed around for the pension but when the toxic environment was too much to handle, I knew it was time for a change. It was a difficult decision because of the health insurance for my medical needs child and like I said the pension. But when I saw who I felt was a SF lifer walk out the door and tell me it was the best thing that's ever happened to him, I decided to take the plunge as well. Let me tell you, it was the BEST thing I ever did. Other companies have health insurance and don't wait for a pension. Invest in yourself. I left claims completely but stayed in the insurance sector to work with a reputable insurance agency. I got myself a higher salary. They have a good health plan with a 401K and I am able to work from home 2 days out of the week. Of course, working from home since March due to the pandemic but even when I was in the office, I could get up and leave and come back without anyone tracking me or timing me. Same thing at home. I can leave and take my family for some family time and then come back. I told my fellow coworkers where I came from and they could not believe it. I still keep in contact with friends from State Farm who are working from home and they said it's worse than being at the office. Only thing that makes it bearable is that they are home, for now.

Don't be afraid to take risks. Just got back from a trip recently. Didn't have to check with Verint to see if there was capacity. Just a "hey I'm out these days." People, there is life outside of the Farm. I encourage those who are in claims to venture out into other depts within the company, which can be hard. Once you're in claims with SF, it's hard to get out unless you have a technical skill set. If you're nearing 55 with the company then stick it out until 55 then leave and start collecting on the pension, but if this whole buyout happens, take it and leave. The grass is greener on the other side. Trust me.

You can expect a freeze when all the executives salaries increase significantly.It is widely known and reported by outside parties that SF executives are paid significantly less than their counterparts in stock companies in direct compensation (salary and/or stock.) The defined pension plan offsets the direct salary imbalance. If you suddenly see executive salaries balloon then a pension freeze will likely be right behind.

When should we expect a freeze in pension? It’s looking like some big operational changes coming in 2021, I’m like everyone else just trying to hold on.

I hate to burst anyone’s bubble but there is no pension buyout planned. With the recent change to close it to new hires there is little economic advantage for SF to do so. As an earlier poster stated the mortality table is shrinking the number of pensioners daily, Sadly, COVID is accelerating the decline-SF pension mortality is up 21% YTD.

Sorry to burst someone’s bubble but there are no plans to buy out the pension. There is no major economic benefit to SF now that it is closed to new members and as someone stated in an earlier post the mortality table is eliminating pensioners daily-sadly Covid has accelerated it for some of the most senior alumni.

Buyout on pension already in the works, it will sunset soon. The only thing helping it right now is the payout has dropped dramatically. Good luck to everyone. It should have been removed years ago most aren’t even counting that as the primary source.

Go cure a disease or something. Good grief.

Seems everyone is worked up over nothing here. I am an agent, 35 years, 20 with the farm. It is a good ride right now but let’s all admit we don’t own any of it, the company agrees to pay us for service and production and we agree to that contractually agreed upon pay schedule. Simple deal right? If the company changes the compensation agreement we basically have a very simple choice, live with it or move on. We do not own our book of business, we all agreed to this. My suggestion is very simple, first, control your expenses, rightsize you’re office and staff expenses and especially marketing expense, they push you to spend your $ on some pretty worthless c-ap. When your lease renews ask for an early out clause so you can walk without a large lease obligation or better yet buy a small office space. Have a second source of income, I love commercial real estate, particularly self storage, very scalable and recession proof. Put yourself in a position where you don’t have to lose a minutes sleep over this. Let’s face it , agent comp has always been a bumpy ride, who has not taken a 10-20% pay cut this year with the rate reductions alone. We are a pretty resilient bunch and frankly the bottom line is the company still desperately needs us, maybe not forever but into the foreseeable future. Just my 2 cents.

Good clarification and yes hard to believe there are still that many contracts amongst the AA-XX contracts. I've heard the rumor about the contract change at our 100 anniversary too and it will be interesting to see if MT has the "fruit" to make that needed call. COVID may force the hand! Employees p-ss-d at him is one thing...wait until the agents really get fired up...hold on! Should be fun to watch if it goes down.

A couple points of clarification. The pension is in fact an expense. With recent changes to new hires it is now a “known” future expense because there is no one new joining. Also, for the first time it is a declining expense because of natural mortality-every day less people are collecting a pension.

Regarding agent contracts. There are currently 6 different contacts in use-hard to believe but we have several 90 year old agents with an active code. The reason for so many is with every contract change the Company has allowed agents to choose the new contract or keep their old one. There is no guarantee that will occur with next change. They can legally offer a new contract with a “take it or leave it offer. Agents, as independent contractors are free to make their own personal decision. Unlikely to be a buy out as the Company would like to keep the number of agents relatively close to current number. A sign it is coming will be increased new agent appointments, recognizing there will be many that walk away or retire after an announcement. One speculation-with the convention and 100 year celebration In 2022 the senior team will want this thorny issue done beforehand.

Well stated and accurate.

You must be the life of the party, said no one ever.

Corrections to your posts:

Pension funding or overfunding has nothing to do with if it will continue. It is an expense the company has to maintain and contribute too. Unneeded expense and why it will not apply to new employees starting in January 1, 2021. Sorry anti-trust has nothing to do with a pension...plus companies, and governmental entities have been buying out pensions for decades and plenty of laws and federal guidelines on how it is done. Go ask FedEx, UPS, JCPenny, Sears, GE, IBM...not hard to do the research.

The Agent's contract has not fundamentally changed since 2000. Huge problem for State Farm as they can't make agent's change contracts. This could be done if SF reorganized and becomes a stock company, hence why Allstate did this! Not all about capital but that might be an issue in a long bear market, market share losses rapidly increases, and since insurance companies can mainly only invest in certain quality investments and bonds (which basically pay 0% now) per state regulations. Plus State Farm does have the money for buy-outs etc... we are worth $116 billion dollars!
2000-called the New Contract 8%-14% per renewal with a bonus
Called the Old Contract-15% per renewal-no bonus
Plus when an agent retires it is based off the mutual book of business/premiums so now those customers support the old agent and now have to support a new agent. Not very efficient or cheap at all! Definitely not effective either...as the numbers on that speak for themselves!
Right now we loose around 7 cents for every dollar in premium we collect and make up the difference with investments. Geico/Progressive are making almost 10-15 cents on every dollar of premium before investment. Do the math.... Average pay for an agent is roughly $325,000 a year with a 40-50% overhead. We do have agents that make millions of dollars a year......
on-line/computers are cheap, wife's don't need new cars every year and don't go to the deer lease or lake house every week. Independents usually get paid once (good acquisition fee) then a tiny renewal/ servicing fee, if any.

Cheers!

Ohhh the usual trolls that go to the childish and never dispute facts or support an argument with substance, it has electrolytes... it's what plants crave.....

The pension plan will eventually get bought out...for those working now and the current retirees. The why or an opinion does not matter, just a statement. Ohhh and $900+ $25 non-elective a year 401K match, pretty much useless, over time/ROI it gets a little better but in total at retirement it might cover 1-2 years. The rest is my money earned, taxed, and contributed! You missed the question asked....what are you or anyone for that matter, going to do when it get's bought out?

Sour grapes? When you have the highest quit rate recorded for any company in 2019 that means people from the outside come in for a new job (have had other jobs/companies), take a look around, and say forget this. Over 3 times the national average quit rate is not sour grapes again it is an established fact and reality. A lot of areas at SF have "planned attrition" rates each year of 38%-65% depending on the department. Meaning they want you to leave! Change does always happen and always will but sooo many people try to tell other people they have no clue of what the benchmark is or what was good or not good.
There are standards and benchmarks for everything in this world. Music, films, food, a job, people, cars, art, behavior, and pretty much every aspect of life most people value. If you don't agree then bless you. One man's trash may be another man's treasure, so to each their own. The exception is not the rule/standard or benchmark no matter how hard or how much someone says it is.

Underwriting-most companies automated this over a decade ago. Everyone knows eventually personal lines auto underwriting will go away and be automated. Bless those folks when it happens. More down-sizing is coming everywhere in the organization, COVID will accelerate it with all of the virtual handling

Agents-defend this? You think that is the future of the company? If you gave customers a choice of a cheaper rate, no agent or a higher rate, to have an agent, 99% of people would just take the cheaper rate. Everyone knows that. SF has lost market market share every year for over 20 years...not debatable. So in sports terms the Cleveland Browns are 0-20 against the New England Patriots. Lost every game for the last 20 years. Fact!

The discussion about companies sealing their own faith is not intended to be a political discussion. Could care less if you are buying or selling or which side you/I on, the fact is in 2020 50% of us workers earn less then $35,000 a year, that is a fact not an opinion. The average price of a home is $324,000. Most people in the US do not have $1000 in the bank to cover an emergency. In 2000 the average median salary was roughly $30,000 a year and the average price of new home was $167,000, you can see the problem right???...people will find an alternative means to survive and sometimes what you ask for you get....and it's not always better! Hence the term be careful what you ask for. Learn the lesson of Henry Ford- January 1914, Henry Ford started paying his auto workers a remarkable $5 a day. Doubling the average wage helped ensure a stable workforce and likely boosted sales since the workers could now afford to buy the cars they were making. It laid the foundation for an economy driven by consumer demand. Yes the world has changed.....I get it, but the concept still applies.

Pension is actually overfunded, I dong see it going anytime soon.

Man you must have a lot of free time, while you raise some interesting points to think about I believe you have a lot of doom and gloom thrown in also. Agents going away? Doubtful, agents are actually a fairly efficient way to sell and service customers, especially when the contracts are always adjusted in the companies favor. State Farm buyout? Doubtful, The only one with pockets deep enough for that is probably Berkshire. I think we run into some anti-trust issues on that one. Demutualization? Also doubtful, we don’t need to raise capital, don’t see any reason to do that. Plus that never ends well for the execs, ( after the initial buyout). Now get back to the mailroom, my October issue of the reflector is late.

Still planning on getting your pension and don’t forgot the 401k match all those years. If it was so bad and supposedly screwed up give back your pension and the match jackxxx.

Thankyou for sharing this. It’s helpful and glad someone finally called it out.

Very well said! Truth!

I’ll give the official obligatory SF comment: Uhhh, oh yeah, sour grapes.

Mostly a good read, except for the part where you say you "Don't want to go to politics" and then you do exactly that. What do you want to bet that admins will delete your post for that? Which is a pity in my opinion. If they do, I hope you repost without the political parts.

In the immortal words of Yogi Berra, "if you want me to read something this long, you are going to have to make it a lot shorter".