Thread regarding Centene Corp. layoffs

I cannot see, based on my experience, how an outside agency can or would be 1) held accountable for being compliant in communications, 2) train people, and 3) compensated for staying current on same. I've worked as a marketer overseen by legal departments and compliance, directing agencies on compliance in highly regulated environments from airlines to car rental (DOT, state attorneys general) to medical device (FDA) to recently CMS. How you legally hold an outside entity and its employees responsible for complying with state and Federal regulations which change constantly, without client oversight, is beyond me. I'm sure the compliance folks are freaking out.

The previous response must have come from Centene leadership because your super sleuthing skills are just as asinine as your decision making skills. But keep your theory. Who cares. Now, on to the "win-win". This is NOT a win for Centene. It's clear they are only concerned about their balance sheet and they see the Marketing expense as unnecessary, so their brilliant idea is to reduce it, and the cost they spend for each employee. Their focus is on the tangible, which makes them stupid because they are ignoring the intangible. The intrinsic value of having the best team around spearheading their Marketing initiatives. The knowledge. The experience. The dedication. They foolishly remove that value and GIVE IT TO ANOTHER COMPANY. How ridiculous! So now Centene is handcuffed to HLK. And how many of those Centeners are going to stay with HLK? Sure, they'll accept a job out of necessity, but they are going to bail as soon as they get the chance. As soon as the economy recovers. And you think HLK is going to pick up the pieces when that happens? Please! I don't buy magic beans and I don't buy faery tales and delusions. I've been in the muck. And I know how long it takes to learn this stuff. They are going to be screwed and so will Centene.

Now, this is certainly a boon for HLK. An agency that has no healthcare experience gets a treasure of knowledge and experience. Sure, it's a win for them. But they also inherit a staff that's feeling just a tad bit underappreciated. So, good luck with that.

And on to the staff, the Centene Marketers who are forging ahead after getting the rug pulled under them during the busiest time of the year. On to those dedicated folks. The ones being crushed in the middle of this "win-win". I suppose one consolation is that we no longer have to see hypocritical messages from that forked-tongue CEO. Hey! I guess it is win-win.

The size of the Centene business indicates that HLK will become essentially a 'captive agency' of Centene. This isn't unknown in specialized areas such as graphic design where the in-house resources are all contractors (Pepsi does this). Digital too.

From this post and others, I get the impression that HLK is not a current agency for Centene.

1) HLK will be turned upside down and restructured to serve Centene's day to day needs.
2) Most agencies work on a shoestring. You wonder if Centene or another entity is fronting the money for onboarding people before the transition.
3) Most agencies hire creative and account people who thrive on specialized challenges like branding, ideation, digital, etc. They are not suited for the day-to-day grind of corporate work, nor the strictures of compliance–that is what clients deal with.
4) If I were head of marketing for a client like Bayer, I would be telling my management my concern that we'd no longer get their A team people, and then have meetings with their management to make arrangements. Their Plan B will be shifting business to a current Bayer agency. If we were a smaller client, I'd be looking for a new agency immediately. No client likes to be sloppy seconds.
5) If I were heading an agency/vendor for Centene, I'd seek clarification on 2021 relationships ASAP or pull the 90 day notice clause.
5) If HLK is smart, they'll hire a bunch of you to run the business.
6) How much blowback will there be internally from sales/BD, the plan managers, etc?

Finally, I wonder if Neidorff has a financial interest in HLK. It would be pocket change for him. Or is Centene working this as a financial dodge? This is speculation, but this whole thing is so odd and not typical of current corporate practices in marketing that it is questionable from a corporate governance viewpoint.

Here’s a little story about a disgruntled employee who had a very long run at Centene as well as a history of bashing the leadership of many depts internally. This went a tad bit too far throwing Ms Jansky under the bus. This theory is 100% false. This is a personal attack and while it does appear there could be a connection there is none. Sadly many have figured out who penned this original write up… the smoke screen of not knowing about her performance didn’t do the trick. Nice try. While I do think it’s a bold move to move to an agency with no healthcare experience, it appears the idea is to possibly retain some knowledge experts as well as use the expertise of the agency. Seems like a win-win to me.

Billion dollar fortune 50 company rents out it's HIGHLY SUCCESSFUL marketing department to a little rinky dink boutique Marketing agency. Make it make sense.

I say we all strike. Take a 30-day siesta. They think this company can do what we can do. Okay. Start today. Figure it all out. Keep our existing campaigns going. Continue development of the new ones. C'mon hotshots. Do all of it while staying compliant. Do all of it in time for open enrollment.

I say we all strike. Take a 30-day siesta. They think this company can do what we can do. Okay. Start today. Figure it all out. Keep our existing campaigns going. Continue development of the new ones. C'mon hotshots. Do all of it while staying compliant. Do all of it in time for open enrollment.

Well said ! A few of us had found this connection between Cindy & Michael this week. We just speculated this, but now thinking it to be true.