Thread regarding UnitedHealth Group Inc. layoffs

Last day to enroll in the new c-appy plan. Of course the email doesn't go into detail about the cut or the look back going bye bye. Another benefit cut for all employees to put up with.

Lay offs and now the ESPP being cut is not a good sign. What’s next lower 401k match? I have worked with UHC for 12 years now and have seen so many jobs sent over seas. It’s sickening! Most entry level entry jobs are no longer available. Technology has caught on with UHC.

As an optum employee, i am disappointed at this change and recent layoffs. So many of my colleagues left/are leaving and will either not be replaced or replaced with offshore workers. My manager was laid off last week and they’re just splitting our team to join other teams. Cutting costs everywhere at the workers’ expense.

10% without look back is not worth it at all imo. You set aside 10% of your after tax income, and then are forced to buy at a price that you have no idea what will be. You would be far better off to invest monthly in whatever stock you thought was the best at that time period, and then you would expect that to increase during the "6 month" period.

Whats more I don't live in US so for us we have to pay exchange rates from € to USD and then back again when we sell. and then 50% income tax on the whatever the discount was. Waste of time now and is not a "benefit".

They might seem to be cutting everywhere but on LinkedIn lot of people excited about their recent job offers with UHG/Optum. Definitely hiring locally, just younger people and not always cheaper because esp in IT you have to pay hefty salaries to compete with other tech companies. Those new hires aren’t going to want to do the grunt work to keep infrastructure running, patches, reacting tolatest fed req, cybersecurity threat requiring LOTS of overnights.

The ESPP is a sure sign that they are cutting everywhere to make up for some very poor financial decisions internally without regard to employee morale. Lets not pretend that raises or bonuses at UHG were ever good so if they cannot even get by without cutting the ESPP they have issues. They try to spout off about their other "benefits" a credit union? Are you kidding me.
The hiring freeze is another awful sign. So how bad is it? A few reasons why

1. ) Most immediately bad acquisitions / investments. Hubris is a terrible thing but it effects alot of overpaid jack holes. This is mainly Optum area but UHG also.
2. )Health Insurance Tax - Management Cries wolf because they may actually have to pay and its all over their projected financial reports despite knowing about it since 2010 but always thinking Congress would never actually follow through. They still may not. See their latest presentation.
3. ) Community and State has been a cluster for a few years in terms of their ROI.
4. ) Competition - Yes Humana / Aetna and the others have upped their game and are taking advantage of UHG missteps
5. ) Lastly the Med for all talk because it tanks the stock unjustly no matter how unlikely it is but it creates some great buying opportunities for your personal accounts. The bigger issue is a public option that will have a major negative impact on the insurance industry when whatever dem president is after Trump in 2025 starts the process of having one. Read up on it.

Does anyone know the real reason for the layoffs and benefit cuts? This is the best economy since at least the late 90’s if not ever. Medicare for All won’t happen. Are the other large insurers (Cigna, Humana) cutting staff and benefits?

It would be interesting to find out what percentage of people re-enrolled in the new c-appy plan

For what it's worth:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/unitedhealth-unh-provides-guidance-2020-194507176.html

I'm very disappointed that they eliminated the "look back" feature for the lowest price first business day and last business day of the 6 month period. It was too good to be true. I'm not surprised it's now just the whatever the price is last business day.

The fact that they eliminated look back AND changed discount from 15 to 10% makes me seriously reconsider continuing to contribute. I had contributed 10% of pay, changed it to 5% when I saw this and frankly I'm not even sure if it makes sense to re-enroll. I supposed 10% is still good enough to still buy it / re-enroll?

Yes there are many people who cannot set aside that much to be able to take advantage. It was a great perk especially if you were higher paid and could afford to set aside 10% of your after tax income. I have made a good deal of money over the last 8 years on the stock. It still may be worth it to flip it every 6 months if you can afford to hold your money and want a guarantee. But in my opinion without the lookback there is not enough cushion to hold the stock past the discount window especially if the stock made a good run prior to your purchase and your 10% is off a high price.

I was told by my supervisor after discussing my c-appy raise, "if you want to make money at uhc, you should buy stock". I replied, "I would if i made more money!" But to be honest, owning stock in uhc and wanting that stock to go up in price means making the company have employees do more work with less resources. Think about it, money isnt just gonna appear... You owning stock perpetuates your own misery at work. Oh and by the way the CEO made 16 MILLION for his yearly salary.... So i bet he is " grateful to have a job"

The change is unfortunate. It definitely makes UHG a less attractive place to work. Additionally, the change announcement came after the 2020 benefit period for employees. The health benefits seem subpar compared to other large employers. I further understand that employees with great reviews get raises less than 2%, with bonuses under $1.5k. Being the largest Insurance company it seems they do not appreciate the employees that helped them reach that goal. Maybe they reached that goal by providing their employees with benefit that are not even mediocre. Hope the company reconsider their position in these regards.

Millennial here... none of that "OK Boomer" B.S. if you didn't take advantage of the old ESPP you left a lot of money on the table. ESPP made me more money, year over year than any bonus I ever got. This 10% end-of-period ESPP is complete sh–.

If all you care about is a steady paycheck and a measily 10% discount you're better off working as a Pizza delivery boy and putting your tip money in an S&P 500 fund.

Amen to that. The excuse that uhc is doing this to match the market is bs when uhc claims to be the leader

Its so sad employees should be thankful for crumbs. Next comes a reduced 401k match, then a great rating gets you a 1% raise, then bonuses are cut. but you know be grateful. Or get your worth and find a new job. Don't complain about the wealth gap or i don't have a living wage i need socialism when you are complicit because "Im grateful" when employers do this.

Ok boomer

Be glad we get even 10%. I am. #Begrateful

VP's and CEO/CFO didn't like their FREE stock option value being diluted.

Wow, I was not aware of this.

It's always funny when they don't allow comments on a post on the Hub because they know it'll be received poorly.

Be grateful you have a steady paycheck

Wow and this is buried in the HUB and I have yet to see an email. I guess they will send something this week. What was one reason to stick around a bit is gone. I am not participating any longer without the lesser price option. I can do better elsewhere with my money every two weeks. Seriously this company is cutting everywhere. I would suggest employees to really start looking for other employement. This has gotten out of hand as employees are getting hosed every which way.