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"We met with them [Thursday] to discuss with them the fact that we are going to go from working in the offices on South Horton to a work-at-home arrangement," Cigna Healthcare Spokesman Joseph Mondy said.
With the transition will come some job cuts, however the number of job to be cut is not yet known. Mondy said that most of the current 270 employees will keep their job.
"Most of the folks will transition, but not all of them," he said. "In some cases, their position simply won't correspond to work-at-home arrangements ... Those positions will be impacted."
According to Mondy, the primary reason behind the transition is to reduce costs. He said it is one of the moves the organization is doing along with more automated aspects and "24-7 operations" to reduce the overall cost.
Cigna Healthcare is operating work-at-home operations for one-third of its claims examiners. Mondy said the arrangement works well and that most employees like it.
"The employees seem to like it, they don't have to commute, they don't have to park," he said.
With Cigna Healthcare only renewing their lease on the building on South Horton for one year, many of the employees anticipated the transition.
"I think there was an anticipation that we would be going toward work-at-home," Mondy said. "I think there is a recognition that this is something that is expected."
The transition is expected to begin in a couple of weeks and be completed by the end of June when the lease expires, according to Mondy. It will take some time to get the employees transitioned into the arrangement and to get the technology set up for them to work from home.
"It's really going to be a three month process," Mondy said.
Cigna has been in Fort Scott for two years after acquiring Great West Health Care in 2007.
Comments
Another empty building in town...maybe the JuCo will want to take it over.
This economy stinks. i feel sorry for the people who will lose their jobs. Come on obama where are all these new jobs...we need new bussiness's coming in because more and more bussiness's are closing and people are losing jobs..this is ridiculious
Having a considerable amount of friends there, it sounded to me like things were much more grim than the picture painted here. Granted I was not there when the announcement was made this afternoon, and I hope I'm wrong, but I have significant concerns for a lot of my friends and Fort Scott as a whole.
This story seems to make it sound like a good thing for the employees. From what I heard that only some of the people were okay for work at home and the rest will find out their fate in a few weeks. And the people working at home are okay for now, not sure how long.
Having people work from home is a GREAT deal for an employer. They don't pay any rent for the office space, no utilities and a person working from home will be more efficient (nobody there to talk to) and the few people I know who do this work more than their "regular hours." The only extra cost involved for the employer is the cost to hook them up to internet so they can work. At $40-50/month, that's a bargain!
As far as the employee, they pay the heat/AC bill, provide office space free of charge and no longer get to participate in activities you'd normally have in an office, which boost morale. I wouldn't choose to do it.
The understanding I have is that quite a few of the claims examiners will have the opportunity to work from home, as some of them have for quite some time (dating back before the Cigna buyout). The local office is split up between half claims and half customer service, which leads me to wonder what will happen to the roughly half of that 270 that work in customer service.
Wow, Mr. Graham, glad to hear of your concern for people.
How is a good thing for employee's getting laid off and losing their job mommy? how is that good?
In Mommy's defense, I took her comment as meaning the story was slanted to make you think it was a good thing for everyone and that at least the ones working at home still have a job. Maybe. At least that is what I think Mommy meant. Settle down KF.
settle down? i asked a simple question. your taking how i said it out of context. not trying to jump on anyone
Ok. Sorry.
wait a minute! I thought the economy was getting better and Fort Scott was going to have lots of revenue money to spend and the taxpayers were going to be doing so well they wouldn't mind a bunch of tax increases..........................
What say you 2b? Explain please. More information needed. Danger ahead, 2b?!
Just that the last 4 years the city govt has been on a spending spree and borrowing money like crazy to fund the projects they can't afford (and didn't need) thru, among other means, general obligation bonds, which we the taxpayers pay for and a vote by us isn't needed.
There are of course projects being completed or started or will start that have to be done.
Sales tax revenues are down, other sources of city income are down. Major local tax increases are probably coming, they will be proposed, or announced, and while I'm at it probably on a national level as well.
Some out of absolute necessity now, some may even be worth it(like utilizing the natl guard bldg for the police) but BE CAREFUL AND BE WARNED,they will probably attach it to something else or add some other things to it as well.
Gas will exceed $3.00 per gallon this year, and everything else is going up in price too, regardless of what the news is reporting.
This year is not a good time to go into debt unless your job is really secure, you really can afford to make that extra payment, or you must have something out of absolute necessity e.g. a running vehicle, or an appliance.
In short I'm still in the hunker down and conserve stage I've been in for the last 2 years.
Iceland Rejects Icesave Depositors Bill in Referendum
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=n...
The above is an interesting read about Icelands debt situation, how the banks caused it, and the peoples rejection of bailing out the banks and their govt.
Ninety-three percent voted against the so-called Icesave bill, according to preliminary results on national broadcaster RUV.
Voters rejected the bill because "ordinary people, farmers and fishermen, taxpayers, doctors, nurses, teachers, are being asked to shoulder through their taxes a burden that was created by irresponsible greedy bankers," said President Olafur R. Grimsson, whose rejection of the bill resulted in the plebiscite, in a Bloomberg Television interview on March 5.
The people didn't cause the bankers to do the irresponsible things that led to this, just as the people in the US didn't cause our bankers to do so.
The bankers, with superior knowledge and all their grand mathematical models, took a bet.
The bet was that they could intentionally make bad loans and intentionally fail to disclose risks, and if the bet turned out poorly the people, who did not consent to be stooges, would bail them out.
What does this have to do with Fort Scott? Everything. If you don't like how our money is being spent, get involved,#1 first main advice, vote,vote,vote, and at every kind and type of election.
#2 Don't put your money in a bank that you think has undue influence on the local governing of your community if you are unhappy with the decisions being made. This is called voting with your money.Yes, even if you have very little it DOES make a difference. Do put your money in a bank who's leader is for ALL the people in your community and not just a select few. It's up to you(not me at this time) to do your own research and use your own judgement on this.
#3 Term limits should be in place for all elected officials everywhere, period!
4# buy local if you can, and from privately owned business's, most especially OWNER/OPERATORS. It is one of the few ways you can spend that actually makes our community stronger.
Such a nice little story. For anyone who remembers working at The Western, Lincoln National, The Hartford, Mass Mutual,Med Plans, Great West and another one that I can't remember, this is just that...a story. How many times has a company tried to smooth over the inevitable, that it is closing its doors and leaving its people to fend for themselves?
What the Cigna rep did NOT say is that the home workers would continue to have a job and had nothing to worry about. It is just a matter of time before those people are let go as well. The Ft. Scott workers have always been viewed by these large companies as useful workers, meaning they had the experience and knowledge to do what their own people could or would not do and do it for 1/2 the price as the workers in their main offices. How odd the best workers any of those companies ever had are the most disposable.
Just a matter of history repeating itself.
And...when a company buys out a competitor, they always tell the employees that it's a perfect fit to their existing business and they wanted the experienced employees to stay around to work. How many times have you heard that line???
It is so disappointing because I know what you guys are saying and I believe it is true. Fort Scott has so many hard working and highly productive people compared to what they get elsewhere.
I wonder what would happen if everyone who works at Cigna called in sick on the same day?
SICK OUT
Main Entry: sick--out
Pronunciation: \ˈsik-ˌau̇t\
Function: noun
Date: 1951
: an organized absence from work by workers on the pretext of sickness
What would that prove?
Among many other things I can list here,it would be a way to say, "stick it where the sun don't shine" and it might just make a lot of people who work there feel like they were able to do something about being treated like cattle.
That is one way to look at it I suppose. The other way to look at it is that employees who go on sick out are just asked to stay home earlier. Permanently. Again, what does such an act prove?
Looks like it would just make it easier for the company to decide who will and who won't have jobs.
What say and Fort Scott Resident,
The idea is for ALL the employees to call in sick. OH! you are afraid they will let someone go "permanently", or "earlier"? I don't think you understand what is really going to happen to the employees of Cigna. In my opinion they are dead men walking.
What say and fort scott resident,
RE read been there done that's comment. His words are right on.
Based on the input from a number of friends there, I don't think they are all dead men walking, but I do get the feeling there will be significant workforce reduction. I hope I am wrong.
It would be my guess that it would be good economics to switch to a few homeworkers because they can be easily eliminated as the unemployment rate goes up and more people become uninsured. Most cannot afford COBRA.
Telecommuting is becoming more popular with technology. I can see that Cigna could probably make it work. I know of others who work for companies that way. It may not be the most popular option but they still have jobs. There will be reductions in staff as some jobs won't be needed (mail room, etc). There will also be some folks who don't have access to the high speed internet needed to telecommute or just don't want to. If they can keep 100 of the jobs, that's better than 100 more people looking for work & collecting unemployment.
FORT SCOTT RESIDENT SAID,
And...when a company buys out a competitor, they always tell the employees that it's a perfect fit to their existing business and they wanted the experienced employees to stay around to work. How many times have you heard that line???
________________________________________
Sad to say, I've heard it, and I've used that same line myself back in the 80's and 90's.