Thread regarding Highmark Health layoffs

I have heard various rumors - yes more layoffs! And Highmark doesn’t pay claims on time! That’s how they keep their billions! Highmark is a sham! They just had a meeting indcating that IHA and Univera are doing poorly and Highmark will get their membership! Bunch of lying CEO, CIO and CFO’s they are! They’re going to the DFS to get a rate hike but, they’re waiting IH, Excellus and Univera to undermine their competition! Highmark employees are under constant anexiety!

Anyone hearing anything about enGen layoffs?

Another round is coming for sure come June/July that will have an affect on the back office duties of Highmark. They have a ton of offshore India workers. Who are being trained and are ready to go. Don’t be mislead by leadership. When they talk admin costs you know where the work will go. To India. All the while they profit huge and pay out Pennie’s to India. Stay woke.

Honestly, I'm hoping I get laid off. I'm a NYer who has a combined 16 years worth the company. Being laid off gives me 32 weeks of severance - that's the only good thing this place will have done for me. Never have I seen a more poorly run company in my 35 years in IT.

F U to the so-called 'leadership', you bunch of selfish ba----ds.

I’m definitely not as tenured as everyone here, only 2-3 years under my belt. But this is so infuriating as someone working a customer facing role in hmk. I’m verbally degraded by members EVERY DAY. systems aren’t working half the time. Off shore reps do not do their jobs and it’s so hard picking everything up after them. I’m trying to get out, and hearing all this about layoffs soon makes me glad I am. I cannot believe PTO is being considered in statistics for layoffs. If you don’t want people taking well deserved pto from a job that’s soul crushing, maybe don’t give it in a lump sum ¯_(ツ)_/¯

I worked at Highmark from 26 October 1998 thru 26 October 2018. I promised myself that I would put in 20 years, just like I did for the Air Force, and when my 20-year mark approached, Highmark had disintegrated so badly that I could not, and WOULD not, work a day PAST 20 years! It was bad enough that we were split from Highmark and became HM Health Solutions and had the MISFORTUNE of working for Matt Ray, but then he brought in Omar Khawaja (Loser 1) who, in turn, brought in Brad Carvellas (Loser 2). Consequently, the workplace became VERY toxic. They terminated one of the best managers at Highmark (Ed Metz), and everything went downhill from there. We were now inundated with such insane leadership and management, and rather than working as teams who could/would all get TOGETHER and design a solution to any issue, we now worked in segregated "cubicles" where nobody interacted with ANYBODY. I had a manager (heck, I even forgot HIS name) who I've worked for from February 2014 thru April 2015, and in the 14 months that he supervised me (he was in Pittsburgh - I was in Camp Hill), he never made ONE trip to Camp Hill to visit his people NOR even had a video conference call. To this day, I have no clue what the guy even looks like. Then, they brought in Steve Swank who was so far up Brad Carvellas's a-s, that he wouldn't listen to one g__-d___ word that I said about how UNIX works in terms of accesses. He was making all kinds of demands on access restrictions, and the ONLY way to do what he wanted was to implement Access Control Lists (ACLs), and Security Services flat-out said they they would not implement it. My hands were tied, but Steve Swank didn't give a sh__. Then...they bring in Gary Di-k who was this "talk show host wannabe" and wasted all our time so that we would watch his stupid "talk show" video. It was an insane asylum at HM Health Solutions. Then, Brad lies to me and says that he wants to change my "job title [only]" from "Architect" to "Consultant" because NOBODY outside Highmark knows what an "Architect" is. The way he presented it, and the fact that I'd keep my same salary, was okay with me. However, when Highmark implemented Workday and we could access our HR records (career history), I saw that I, in fact, was DEMOTED. And, all the Architects in the other departments kept THEIR "Architect" titles. I guess he felt I was gullible to believe him given that I was the only Architect in our department at the time. And, I was gullible [unfortunately]. After I retired, apparently, HM Health Solutions became EnGen. Not sure who the h___ comes up with these names, but it just takes away any sense of belonging and identity. It's too bad that Pennsylvania Blue Cross Blue Shield was consumed by Highmark. What started out as a close-knit workplace with great comradarie evolved into one heluva toxic environment. The very week that I left the building, I threw out all my books/manuals/notes related to my job, and I would never, ever go back to that infested place again. For those being laid-off, one bit of advice: Do NOT look at it as a negative experience, but rather a blessing in disguise. You NOW can go elsewhere where YOU are truly appreciated. Let the likes of Omar, Brad, Steve and Gary stay behind - you are GONE from them now. Breathe!!!

I remember that Town Hall meeting in which Dave Holmberg paced back and forth on the stage giving the news about canceling all the 5-year-interval “gifts” for longevity. He stated, “Eh, these only amounted to about $25.00, anyway, in worth.” So? It’s not the AMOUNT. It’s the GESTURE, you self-righteous, greedy mo--n!!! You trying to tell me that Highmark can’t afford a $25.00 “gift” every five years??!!! It’s not like EVERYBODY will make it five years due to leaving on their own, moving, or being dismissed. The people at five years, ten years, twenty years, thirty years…..they are either LOYAL and/or COMPETENT employees!!! You can’t give a $25.00 recognition covering a five year span??? That’s $5.00 a year! That’s less than $-0.50 a month! That’s less than $0.20 every pay check! Less than $0.02 a work day!!! Yet, YOU, Holmberg don’t care because your MILLIONS in compensation. Need I say more…..

Next round of layoffs will be end of June prior to the fiscal year ticking over, same as last year.

If you consider the pattern from last year, they did layoffs in June and July. Probably similar timeframe this year as well. This is an organization that will always be looking to reduce, cut and move roles to India. I don't think that trend is going to change for the next couple of calendar years. As a previous poster said, Leaders (managers) have been asked to submit their evaluations on who can be eliminated by May. That is just the spirit of this current group of Senior Leaders from the CEO, CHRO, SVP's, right down to the VP of TA. I don't think their philosophy supports building relationships with employees and valuing the talent as the drivers of success for the company. It appears to be built more on cost and what they can gain for themselves.

Leaders have been told to submit evaluations by May. They’re deciding who to keep.

The CEO is bogus! A rich, selfish jerk.
Highmark is horrible!

I heard July. As they get more offshore folks settled into their roles.

Anymore layoffs coming in for this year?

Any solid rumors on when the next layoff will be?

Does anyone have any guess as to what the ACTUAL number of job cuts in the last year is? 800 is already a lot but they didn't acknowledge several rounds of layoffs we all know happened during that time period. Also, everyone reading this should be alert to expect the aggressive push to offshore or eliminate roles through automation to continue moving forward. And don't expect any honesty from leadership to admit that these things are happening, or admit why they are happening. Highmark has a serious problem on its hands with AHN being such a disaster and the plummeting value of the office buildings it owns.

If you do or did work for hmk you know all of these comments are true.

With these rolling layoffs, it’s clear that at least one reason for the RTO push was the hope that people would voluntarily leave. The continuous and blatant deception at executive levels is very frustrating…seeing the quotes from these leaders in the media on the subject of RTO back in September and now layoffs and knowing what a load of hogwash it is.

@Enron, I hear Highmark offered to cover a portion of the COBRA premium for the severance period

For the people that got let go, sorry ! I understand the ‘Pay’ side of the severance but what about health ins. Coverage with the package ? Is it the same of what you had before with the same cost share and duration of the severance?

Sure, they hired new people and let go of some of the best and most tenured. Management could have been offered to step down, but instead all the time invested was a waste.

To the poster who explained the 6100, thank you! I didn't consider AHN, just the Highmark Insurance side where I used to work. We were so severely understaffed and management tried to make it sound like an accomplishment, "We did so much with less staff". Hard to sit there and applaud that when you continue to see staff reduced, people who were desperately needed so you wouldn't be working 10+ hours a day.
Bottom line is they shored up AHN but continue to layoff from Highmark itself. As I stated, you have to peel back the layers on what Highmark management says to get the actual picture.

To the poster who mentioned Karen Hanlon's response and the fact that they added 6100 people to the workforce. No, those are total hires for the enterprise. That includes the many hires, backfills, and turnover for their hospital system AHN. In 2022 they hired a total of 14k. So, this 6100 is actually a decrease and they likely wouldn't be able to report a large total of ANY kind if it weren't for the hiring in the hospital system. This includes high volume positions like RN's, dietary workers, surg techs, and includes alot of turnover in many of these roles. They have outsourced alot of roles over to India to a firm called Thryve. Alot. And they will continue to.

I do find it interesting that Karen Hanlon gave a rebuttal regarding the layoffs (see below). However, with Highmark one has to peel back the layers to understand what they are saying. It would not surprise me to find them using the NY "merger/acquistion" as the reason for the addition of 6,100 employees. What isn't mentioned is the added work to migrate NY onto the Highmark platforms including modifications to the platforms to make sure they conform to NY regulations.
So, adding 6,100 people isn't 6,100 people to the current workload. It is 6,100 PLUS the new work. So many of these people will be supporting their current NY members not helping the current staff with their shortage.
Highmark was severely understaffed before NY and with the workforce being constantly trimmed it only gets worse. So, I take what Ms. Hanlon said with a grain of salt since it very likely isn't the whole picture. ("Karen Hanlon, the chief financial officer for Highmark Health, responded to the criticism, stressing that Highmark added 6,100 employees in 2023, growing its workforce by about 2% to 44,000. About 40,000 of those are based in the United States.")

Definitely strange that they are laying off long tenured folks and people from NY while posting such kind of profits. Almost 200 people were laid off this month alone and that's not even counting those who were laid off in January and February - no mention of those previous months layoff numbers in the press.

“ Highmark Health today announced consolidated financial results for 2023, reporting $27.1 billion in revenue, an operating gain of $338 million, and a net income of $533 million.”

How can they claim the lay-offs and terminations are due to budget cuts? Make it make sense. The CEO is all about greed and those supporting him agree with this. It’s sad.

And hiding his layoffs too. Holmverg had the ba--s to say he is increasing minimum wage to help with the staffing shortage! Stop eliminating positions and laying off your loyal workers to offshore to the Philippines and you would not have a shortage! What a liar!!!! News needs to let everyone know he is a billionaire liar! https://triblive.com/local/regional/highmark-posts-533m-profit-in-2023-reversing-dismal-performance-in-2022/

Looking for a sign or signal?
Big RED flag....
A 10 minute Teams meeting between 9-10 in the morning....

Isn't it just wild how a place that’s supposed to be all about health can get it so wrong with our mental well-being? Seeing the company plaster mental health slogans everywhere, then turning around and making our work lives a living he-l—it’s like a slap in the face.

I mean, I've felt it too. You’re there, giving it your all, and instead of feeling supported, it feels like the company's playing mind games. They talk a big game about caring for our mental health, but then pile on the stress and ignore our needs. It’s like they’re saying one thing and doing the complete opposite. Honestly, it’s heartbreaking and infuriating all at once.

It’s hard not to feel a bit lost when you're in an environment that claims to uplift mental health but then practically does everything in its power to undermine it. From denying benefits we used to rely on to ignoring the processes that made our lives easier, it’s a constant battle. And for what? A few extra bucks in their pocket while we're left feeling drained and undervalued, all while watching Thryve resources take over our jobs at a reduced cost and quality.

Bringing our stories into the light is more important than ever. If you’ve felt that sting of hypocrisy, that sense of betrayal, it’s time we talked about it. Not to just vent, but to show just how wide and deep this issue runs. It’s about making sure no one else feels alone in this and pushing for a workplace that genuinely supports our mental health, not just in words, but in actions.

We all deserve to work in a place that builds us up, not tears us down. Let's not let their lip service fool anyone anymore. It’s time to demand better, for our mental health, for our well-being, and for the sake of honesty. Because at the end of the day, how can we trust a health-focused company that doesn't even take our mental health seriously?

They tore Blue Coss apart. This company is the worst company to work for. They way the run is mind-boggling. They do not appreciate their employees. They do not want to hear anything on how our processes used to be. They deny benefits that were covered before. Claims are not processing the way they used to be processed. They are constantly promoting mental health when they are causing many mental health issues for people. They do not care about thier members or providers. As long as the money is going into their pockets they are ok with that.

Alright, let’s break this down in simpler terms for anyone trying to make sense of the situation at Highmark Health, considering the ongoing downtown office space crunch and what it means for the folks working there.

Imagine this: During the pandemic, when interest rates were at an all-time low, a lot of companies, Highmark included, decided to spruce up their offices. They took out big loans thinking, “Hey, everyone’s coming back to the office soon, let’s make our space nicer.” But here’s the catch - those loans were cheap to get back then, but they’re not cheap to keep now and in the future. Now, office space isn’t as in demand as everyone thought it would be and it’s never getting better regardless of how hard they try. Vacancy rates across the US shot up from 13.3% in 2019 to 18.3% in 2023. What does that mean? It means a lot of office spaces are sitting empty, and rents are dropping. For a place like Highmark that’s sitting on a big, expensive-to-maintain building, that’s bad news. Their building's value has likely taken a nosedive.

Now, with the recent Post-Gazette article highlighting Pittsburgh’s downtown office nightmare, where vacancy could hit 46% by 2028 and some big buildings are even facing foreclosure, Highmark’s financial squeeze gets even tighter. Imagine trying to fill up a massive building when nearly half of downtown could be ghost towns soon. Plus, with loans taken out during cheap times coming due, Highmark’s looking at a wall of financial pressure they can’t easily scale. Their real estate headache is only going to throb more intensely as they race towards those loan maturity dates, with property values tanking because nobody wants all that empty office space.

For folks working at the lower rungs at Highmark, this is like being on a ship where the captain’s too busy trying to plug leaks - they might not have time or resources to make sure everyone’s happy or even on board. The ship’s taking on water because of decisions made when skies were clear, and now, even with Pittsburgh trying to throw tax breaks and incentives at the problem, it’s like trying to shove the toothpaste back into the tube – a solution that's too little, too late.

So, here’s the deal: working for a company neck-deep in real estate woes, like Highmark seems to be, might not be the safest bet. Their financial straits, tied up in a building that’s losing value by the day, could mean rough seas ahead for job security and workplace morale. Pittsburgh’s not exactly pulling rabbits out of hats to fix the downtown dilemma, either. If you’re looking for stability, finding an employer not bogged down by massive buildings and looming loan payments might just be the smarter move. The real estate burden’s a heavy one, and it’s only going to get heavier.

Left HM a while back, didn't realize they had the ba--s to put Thryve in other areas outside of IT. I'm sure all of the clients and members are thrilled.

Not all managers know or provide the cut-list. Which is why there are struggles in the staffing. Essential employees are being let go because managers aren't being consulted....leaving those remaining to scramble and pick up the pieces.

Lowmark is becoming a pure joke. They bought a hospital looking to be competitive with UPMC and it has yet to turn a profit. It’s actually operating at a loss. Tried to convince us to switch to AHN doctors and facilities and had the audacity to preach to us that we should have our relatives switch as well. It didn’t work. Now got make up for the losses on that side of the business they’re stripping the insurance side to bare bone onshore while offshoring work to mistake prone locations.
Where do they find these people who collect these huge salaries to make bonehead mistakes?

As much as it stinks to think your manager was aware or involved in identifying people to layoff, that is absolutely true in alot of cases. When they are eliminating an entire team, that may NOT be the case (obviously). But when the layoffs are 2 from this team, 3 from this team, 5 from this team (and so on) the manager is absolutely involved in choosing who is no longer needed. The top brass have no way of knowing whose roles can be absorbed and therefore they rely on information from the managers. Your manager may tell you they were blindsided, but that is likely because it's an awkward discussion. In a few examples from last year, I know of at least 2 managers that chose the people and were aware almost 6 weeks in advance before the June layoffs. Again, I know that doesn't feel good to believe that, but it's true.

It's Thursday, let's see who they draw out of a hat to eliminate today... I'd really like to know what is going on here, before the book-cooking makes news years from now.

We work with the clients and with sub standard thryve. What's the point in forcing people come to office ?

To the "anonymous" who commented that managers selected who was being terminated. That is horribly incorrect and most managers were as blindsided as the employees. Each time, only being told minutes before the meetings occurred.

Where is this word coming from?

Word has it that badge swipe audit or kiosk check in is coming because folks forced to hybrid are not putting in a full day at the office. Unbelievable...
Another way to make elimination decisions

Blame Buffalo. Cute. Highmark blows. What a horrible experience.