Thread regarding Cigna layoffs

@bk LOTS of our seasoned Acct Managers took the VRP option and left before the end of last year. They all fall under the Sales org.

@jz This is exactly like the layoffs during transformation in the early 2000s. The layoffs were bloodbaths, but when they hit their target, everything went back to business as usual and remained mostly stable until 2024 when they started this downsize. That's not to say JEs didn't happen during that time, but they were relatively small. Thousands have been JEed since 2024, and now they are close to their target which I believe is ~12K total. The hope was that 20% of the 5K offered early retirement in this go around would accept. If you ask around, you'll find that the email from Karri that included the percentage and number is the first time an email that forthcoming has EVER been sent to the whole enterprise. That tells me they are being pretty transparent with the goals. It will start to smooth out in March.

@k5, you said it yourself, it's a surprise they even announced this round. They don't usually do that, and they waited until right before it started when they are certain of the numbers. I do believe there will be more after Feb. They have been reducing workforce for over 2 years now. The hope is the amount of people they "need" to let go will begin to lessen. Whatever happens, happens. We can only speculate and use the past information to help figure out the future. Hopefully, if they still need some big numbers to meet their goals, they will offer VRP again later this year before finalizing those numbers.

@k6 Why would it include non-Cigna companies?

@jz Not even sure if that 3% includes non Cigna companies

@k4 if it was more throughout the year i think they would just say it at this point.. im surprised they even announced the february ones though

@jz the email clearly stated in addition to VRP, they will reduce workforce by 3% through February, and did not imply that's it for the year. IMO, no spin, pretty straight forward.

@gm Ouch. That means Cigna has already eliminated 12% of its employees since 2024? (73.5k people down to 64k, according to the corporate website )

How bad will it be when 2026 is over?? There’s no way it’s only going to be another 3% this year. Anyone who buys that HR spin is beyond gullible.

@aa it’s exactly that. I’m losing half my team. Anything internal is in trouble.

@gj lol 73,500 employees as of the end of 2024... the past 2 years have been brutal

Kari's email said <3% of the enterprise ~2K.

The corporate page says there are 64K+ employees. https://www.thecignagroup.com/about-us/

3% of 64K = 1,920

@aw being anonymous doesn’t give you the right be talk to people like that! Wow!

@by sounds like it’ll be every 2 weeks to finish then.. I’m surprised they didn’t front load most of early..

@bc Let’s just say a little birdy told me, but I know it’s about 630, or around a third of the number of employees they mentioned.

so judging by that email, is the 1/29 people part of the 2k?? or is february ones the only ones that count for the 2k

Heard that Sales is typically safe during layoffs. Don't they need to keep the moneymakers? Heard that all those under the new Optum lady are at risk. Whispers that they will take so many per team in Sales and Implementation.

@av there are 2000 employees being let go. Not roles. Employees. Why is this hard to understand? We don’t have 2000 roles but we do have about 70000 employees. 3% of 70k is 2100 people.

@bb Where did you get the 630 number?

There were around 630 people laid off last week. If the 2,000 people by the end of February number is true, then we’re looking at 2 more rounds of about the same size.

@b3

They likely aren’t including contracts in those numbers.

@OP

https://giphy.com/gifs/animation-disney-pinocchio-3o85gdhlpxVz8TjsTC

They don't respect us enough to be transparent and/or they don't think we are smart enough to figure it out

@ab This needs to be a question for the February 6 leadership call. I didn’t get an invite to that call since I’m a band 4 but I’m hoping a band 5+ will ask.

The 2,000 employees / <3% number definitely seems too low but I also wonder if there are even 2,000 distinct roles within the company. Something isn’t right here.

@ab that doesn’t make sense because she specifically said it’s 3% of the enterprise.

There is no way that 2,000 distinct roles are 3% of all roles at the company. That means there are around 70,000 distinct roles. If there are multiple people per role, there are more than 70,000 employees at Cigna which is not true.

@ab are you fu--ing stupid lmao. It doesn’t mean 2,000 roles. There’s probably not even 2,000 exclusive roles at Cigna. What an insane statement.

@ab Is that true?? So if 50 claims processors all have the same role title and are all laid off - that counts as only ONE role being eliminated?

If so, that HR email is really deceptive. It clearly is meant to lead people to believe that <3% of employees are being laid off.

@as Seniority didn't matter. I know a top performing manager who was loyal to Cigna for 15 years that got laid off.

By my understanding many Band 2 supervisors were removed on the call center side. Teams are being re-organized and probably doubling in size due to loss of management. It seems like Band 1 weren't effected much, but there were words indicating there were Band 1 layoffs, difficult to keep track of.

Criteria also doesn't make sense, top performers were definitely removed, not sure if seniority matters.

@ap they’re being replaced by AI, Another Indian

@an+1 “To determine your true job security, you must conduct a cold, objective audit of your role”

You have no job security. There. Fixed it for you. Some are at more risk than others, but as a manager who has lost some of my best performers and who has watched other get cut, it isn’t following the rubric you lay out.

Do your job. Plan on potentially getting cut. That’s all you can do.

@an Not true, our niche, specialized experts were laid off too. The company really wants to send those roles offshore.

To determine your true job security, you must conduct a cold, objective audit of your role. Start with a simple headcount test: If your department of 20 were trimmed to 15, would the company remain operational? Next, evaluate the "overnight replacement" factor. If your position were cut today, could the company seamlessly resume those functions tomorrow by offshoring the work—such as IT help desk support—to a team in India? Answering "yes" to both suggests that your role is structurally redundant and a prime candidate for elimination during a layoff cycle.

However, certain factors act as a shield against displacement. If your role requires niche, specialized training that is difficult to replicate or outsource quickly, or if your work directly drives sales and revenue, your "human capital" value is significantly higher. In these instances, you are likely to survive the majority of layoffs, as the risk of losing your revenue generation or the high cost of training a replacement makes you too valuable to let go.

Its 2000 roles, not people. There can be many people assigned to a role

@a9 They have cut through the muscle and bone this time so teams can fail and will need offshoring. This is no typical trimming the fat.

We had no layoffs in our entire org (yet).

Also, securely no layoffs in India or Philippines or Ireland, so there’s that. Plus I don’t think they are laying off large swaths of call center or band 1-2.

Doesn’t make it any better for the teams that are losing 50% or 13%.

You can only cut to the bone so much before nothing is holding the skeleton together.

@a5 Yes but EVERY department I’ve talked to had layoffs of more than 3% of employees on 1/29.

I guess because a lot of teams are small, it seems like layoffs are worse than it is.

2 people layoff in a 4 person team is 50%, so it sounds like huge layoffs are happening on every team

@a3 I don’t expect Cigna to be forthcoming anymore but why put such an obvious lie as “only 2,000” positions will be eliminated in writing to the whole company? Do they think we’re stupid?

Do you really expect this company to be forthcoming with any information at this point? It's been the same song and dance for the last few years. Layoffs have been the norm every year and seem to be increasing in numbers each time.

I don’t get it either. In my department 13% of the employees were laid off on Thursday.