Hello, I learned that we were acquired by Centene and I was reading the boards about the Wellcare acquisition from a year ago and it sounds like they laid off redundant roles like HR, IT, marketing and all the managers so just wondering if anyone can give an idea of what to expect? Do the people closest to the customer care role tend to keep their jobs? Were all the managers including middle managers? Pay cuts? Benefit cuts, severance package, how long before they start laying people off? Anything would be appreciated. Thanks.
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Magellan is horrific across the board.
This seems like a good thread to bring back from the dead
Centene is a train wreck waiting to happen. They are like the trapper keeper episode from South Park. They are continually attempting to grow but fail to properly integrate and really invest what is needed in the new organization.
After 18 years I left MGLN on my own terms, not theirs. So happy now, no regrets and never looked back.
Say hello to Layoffs Magellan Employees! Now that the deal is closed expect a large scale layoff within the next 2-3 weeks. It will be sudden and with no warning.......
Legacy Centene already has a behavioral health unit; formerly known as Cenpatico. There will be a large job overlap between that and Magellan. I don't have any knowledge about how Heath Net fits into this, but I do know how the legacy Centene folks do. I'd be looking for redundant positions to be eliminated.
I have a different experience. I'm in one of the Health Net Companies (MHN) that Centene bought in 2016-2017. Centene was a white knight for us because Health Net was going to outsource a boatload of back office functions to Cognizant in India - 3000+ jobs. The behavioral health area was largely left alone (although we did lay off people in 2021). MHN welcomes the Magellan company merger in many ways but we're expecting that MHN will be merged into Magellan (not the other way around) and that we'll lose our jobs due to its superior brand/ size! The Health Care Enterprise area does not have robust finance, marketing, etc. systems because it is primarily focused on servicing internal plans and not external clients. Probably far less overlap than you expect. I like Centene much better than Health Net - Centene was very careful about protecting worker's health during the pandemic and had everyone working from home within a week of the shelter at home orders - virtually the entire company is WFH now and we are not due back in the office until Sept. I think it has been forced to re-evaluate working from home because it has been so successful and staff love it.
All this is to say that all companies have their pros/cons & maybe see how this unfolds before jumping ship.
WellCare legacy employee of over a decade - they didn’t bat at an eye letting me go. Watching my team go to another leader made me sick because in time, I’m sure most of them will be shown the door. Get out while you can, Centene is a horrible company. My friends/colleagues that are still with the company are burned out, nervous and miserable. Not worth it.
Centene legacy corporate employee here that was part of the last layoff, only because I'm older and apparently made too much money for MFN's liking. I was there over a decade and made a salary that barely compensated for everything I did for them, so believe me, it was pure greed on their part. There is nothing Magellan does that Centene doesn't have overlap in except NIA. Start looking now or wait for a severance package when they lay you off if you've been at Magellan a long time, are close to retirement age, or can take another position making less w/o destroying your finances. Good luck to you all.
Centene acquisition employee here- the layoffs are brutal, especially for middle Managment. They’ll give you a backpack and say nothing is changing, but expect quarterly layoffs, especially after a bad quarter for Mikey N.
I work in Communications for a legacy health plan, and Centene contracts out all graphic design and marketing, so those depts are toast. It also contracts out most printing services, so that’s probably getting axed too. Same for web publishing. Usually they start by downsizing a department to a skeleton crew and then leave the remaining few staff to maintain the legacy systems with no support until a newly hired team asks questions that the laid off legacy staff already knew for 6 months and then you’ll either be hired to be on the monolithic team that does your job or be hired on the new incompetent team that runs your market.
For the Magellan Employees...your toast! Overlap will go, that is normal in these types of purchases/mergers. Magellan of PA might be spared because the new parent company is weak in mental health. The rest of the company will be junked. Better get that resume ready.......
No rhyme or reason for who is laid off. WellCare was a great company until purchased by Centene... who doesn’t give a rat’s butt about the employees. If you’re being acquired by them update your resume and start looking. It’s not just supervisors being laid off. It’s the little guys too. They only want to acquire companies but not the employees who are with the companies...BEWARE....at most, they may keep you for a year and you will have no warning that you are next to be laid off. It doesn’t matter how well you perform your job. You can meet productivity and score well on audits and management reviews and still be laid off. They are soul less, heartless, evil people...
If Centene already owns MHNet, which is behavioral health care. How can Magellan and their clinical teams be of benefit?
Magellan resources are not needed. The acquisition was for your Behavioral Health Business customers so that Centene could follow the Anthem Blueprint with Beacon Health. Leadership and individual contributors are overflowing from the Health Net, Fidelis and Wellcare acquisitions. Sorry to say but you would seem to be in plans for termination or package within first year.
Honestly, it’s as if they make it up as they go. I was laid off with the WellCare merger. Centene doesn’t give a sh*t about how hard you work, how little life balance you have. Rather than truly work with their employees, they kick them to the curb. You’re just a number. And replaceable. No thanks, that’s not the type of company to work for IMO.
Everyone's situation is different, but the consensus on these boards is to get out while you can, especially if you are management, in marketing (outsourced to HLK), or in an overlapping area like finance. It's doubtful you will like Centene. I'm grateful to have been packaged out, and that may be in your plans, but my advice is still go into job search now. Behavioral health is hot right now and Magellan I would believe is an attractive credential. Time to pull chocks!
You are certainly right on about Centene. They acquire companies and just create internal chaos. I was at Health Net and Centene completely disrupted operations as they rushed system integrations, which caused issues with members, brokers, employees. And they didn't do a thing to rectify the carnage they created. Michael Neidorff and the executives at Centene are experts at B.S.
My advice for you is to update your resume and leave. I worked for company purchased by WellCare and then transitioned to WC corporate team, which I was pretty happy with the WC organization as a whole and its executive leadership. Teams have finally started integrating with Centene and it is awful. Disorganized, so much useless administrative work, micromanaging from senior leadership, people have been less than knowledgeable (even though some have been in their jobs 10 years) and sometimes flat out rude. Seems expectation from Centene leadership is that late evenings or weekends should be worked, which was very different than my WC experience. WC was flexible with schedules and encouraged WFH which is opposite of Centene. Not impressed with executive leadership at all and their diversity/inclusion/community service is disengenuous. No transparency whatsoever. Healthcare premiums exploded with less matching towards HSA. Vision benefits remained same price but worse coverage. Can no longer get Delta Premier dental coverage. PTO policy worse (went from needing 5 years to 8 years for an increase) and no longer rolls over but still has to be accrued. Hate to be negative Nancy and maybe your department could end up better than mine, but I have been beyond disappointed with Centene. So much guilt because as thankful as I am to still have job right now, the acquisition/integrations have made going to work negative thing. I know if job market was better MANY people including myself would be out the door.
If Magellan has a work from home policy, say “goodbye” to that after the acquisition and pandemic are over, the CEO and senior leadership are against it. Look forward to the culture changing and work loads doubling as there will be layoffs. Your current management will be coached on preaching the “All is well” lectures so you don’t leave, but layoffs, vague communication and stressful work loads with low morale will prevail. You will see your work colleagues burn out. As mentioned on previous comments here, get your resume updated and begin your search.
Corporate Marketing was eliminated entirely, these were not redundant roles.
I noted on the press release that Magellan will continue to operate independently. However, that is a fig leaf for a year or two due to the nature of the business. The people typically affected are administrative–finance, IT, legal, general administrative, HR, executive, web, and sometimes marketing especially shared services. If your job is none of the above and overlaps with someone already at Centene in Health Care Enterprises, I would assume the worst and try for the best. That is the best advice I can give you.
Some advice from someone who was at WellCare (and I refute Nonymous re marketing–most of the WellCare marketers at junior and senior levels were eliminated as early as March, notified immediately after the closing and departing in two waves, very few actually transitioned to Centene, and then the whole department was outsourced with few people left to supervise HLK by end of year).
- Update your resume and LinkedIn profile immediately. Don't wait till the closing which may be months from now due to regulatory approval. Put out feelers now but don't tell anyone you are. But also continue to do your job. It's tough.
- Reductions and reorganizations aren't made on necessity, your ability or track record. Eliminations are made, from what I have heard and experienced, with little rhyme or reason. Centene is all about $$$.
- As it gets closer, you'll be 'Cendantized' even if it's not cleared yet. It depends on how Magellan will be integrated. Will it be a separate operating unit and Centene functions integrated into their brand, or integrated into something else that Centene has? Keep in mind that Centene is a holding company, not a brand.
- Your package and notice, including length of departure and severance, will depend on your level, your function, and what Magellan negotiated for you.
- They will make you 'info dump', transition your job to those already working to the maximum, and it's bye. I worked 10 hour days till my last day.
Be prepared ASAP. You have a window of time because of the shareholder and regulatory approvals needed. But if you thought Magellan was a great place to work, Centene will certainly be different.
Good question. This is what I will say, there may have been cuts to the Marketing Department to eliminate overlapping roles and trim the department a bit but decisions were NOT made based on skill level and experience. At least not for the legacy Centene folks. Centene certainly didn't care about keeping their existing folks. They essentially kept most of the Marketing folks from the acquired company. But for those legacy Centene folks who were kept, they were not kept based on their skills. I know those folks. I have worked with them, and with the exception of maybe 1 or 2, they do not bring as much value to the department as folks who were terminated. Basically, what I am saying is there really isn't any rhyme or reason to what Centene does. They do not consult people with knowledge to make informed decisions on layoffs. And that's just fact! So anyone is up for grabs with Centene. They give 2 Fks about who stays and who goes.