MetLife Lays Off 61 Workers in Bloomfield
November 6, 2017 by Stephen Singer
MetLife Inc. is laying off 61 employees at its Bloomfield offices, or about 14 percent of its more than 400 workers.
The financial services company that provides insurance, annuities, employee benefits and asset management told the state Department of Labor and Bloomfield Mayor Joan Gamble that the job cuts are permanent and part of a restructuring.
The layoffs are effective Dec. 31, leaving a workforce of 375, a spokesman said.
Those affected are claims specialists, psychiatric clinical specialists and others.
In 2013, MetLife announced plans to reduce by 650 its Bloomfield workforce that was then 1,950, as the company consolidated work in North Carolina. As of last year, the insurance company had 646 workers.
MetLife posted a third-quarter loss of $87 million, though revenue of $16.1 billion was up 2 percent from the same period last year.
Bloomberg News reported in March that MetLife, the largest U.S. life insurer, reduced its headcount by 11,000 last year as Chief Executive Officer Steve Kandarian cut costs and prepared to spin off a U.S. retail business.
The insurer had 58,000 employees as of Dec. 31, according to a regulatory filing Wednesday, down 16 percent from a year earlier. Kandarian sold a distribution network of more than 4,000 advisers to Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Co. in 2016.
He also announced plans to cut staff as he works to separate Brighthouse Financial, the U.S. business that sells annuities and life insurance to individuals.
Kandarian is increasing MetLife’s focus on providing insurance through employers and in international markets.
