Nothing from my post two weeks ago has changed (please refer to it below).
The executives will talk til they are blue in the face (pun intended) about the "reasons" why layoffs are necessary: They have been surpassed by Progressive and Geico; they need to reduce overhead, they need to streamline processes to make for a more efficient and cost-effective structure, they need to lower rates for existing customers and prospective ones alike.
And you know what? Those reasons are valid. Those reasons are difficult to argue. Those reasons do not make executives vulnerable, per se. That's why they say them.
HOWEVER....that is not the story.
The story is that Allstate executives/board of directors have authorized billions of dollars in share buybacks over the last several years. Billions of dollars which COULD and WOULD have addressed the aforementioned issues.
To my knowledge, Allstate is the ONLY company in this country which is currently executing layoffs while also continuing to spend billions of dollars in share buybacks.
They will NOT bring up buybacks in the townhall meetings. They will NOT bring up buybacks in "motivational" emails.
They are not dumb...but they think their employees are.
What they are doing right now (lay-offs in conjunction with buybacks) is one of the most egregious examples of corporate greed this country has seen since the likes of Enron and WorldCom.
The executives know it, too. Which is why they don't discuss it.
Read the corporate quarterly call from May. It's all there.
If enough employees went to the press, or did a coordinated PTO day, Wilson and company may have no choice but to rescind the layoffs.
Remember: The billions upon billions of dollars used to artifiically pump up the stock price could have been used on advertising, employee enhancement, customer premium reduction etc. THAT is the key.