Laid off from Liberty Mutual.

What Liberty Mutual layoffs have meant for employees

In the round that took 85 Massachusetts jobs, everyone affected had been told by the end of January, the Boston Business Journal wrote, with the positions set to end in April or May, per Business Insurance. In the 2010 version of the company's severance plan, a worker let go in a reorganization had to stay employed until the termination date the company set to qualify, and had to sign a release of employment claims within 48 weeks of leaving or by any shorter deadline the company named. If a severance plan covers you and carries the same rule, an offer to start a new job sooner is worth weighing against it, and the plan document in force is what shows whether that rule still applies.

When Liberty Mutual combined Ironshore with its LIU US operations, it said it would give employees as much help as possible, including retraining for about 1,800 open positions elsewhere in the company, and expected fewer employees to be affected than positions eliminated, Insurance Business reported. The Seacoast technology overhaul showed how far that kind of offer went. Two employees told NH Business Review that only two people from their unit got into the GoForCode retraining classes, out of hundreds who applied, and a company spokesman said there was never going to be a one-to-one correlation between discontinued positions and new openings. If retraining is on offer, the number of seats and what happens to your end date if you miss one are both worth pinning down.

That version's details show what to look for in any plan. Weekly pay meant base salary alone for full-time non-sales staff, with no bonus or overtime. Performance was judged on the last day, whatever the last formal review said, and that judgment set which rate applied. Only complete years counted, so five years and eleven months counted as five, and a termination for poor performance could qualify, subject to the release and the plan's other conditions. Anyone rehired within 30 days was reinstated with no loss of service but had to repay all of it. If you've been offered severance, how your performance was rated on the final day is worth confirming, since in that version the last-day rating decided the per-year credit. If your end date falls close to a service anniversary and your plan counts only complete years, as that one did, the timing matters.

If Liberty Mutual hands your work to an outside firm, that version's vendor rule is worth knowing. It counted any firm hired to do work employees used to do as a vendor, and someone cut in a reorganization lost eligibility by accepting a comparable job with that vendor or by turning one down. If that firm offers you a job, the plan in force and Liberty Mutual's view on whether the job counts as comparable are both worth getting clear on, since under that version the label decided eligibility either way.

Some staff who arrived through acquisitions had terms of their own. The plan carried an addendum for Ohio Casualty employees who moved over on January 1, 2008, and another for Safeco employees who moved onto Liberty Mutual's payroll on January 1, 2009. If a Safeco transferee's job ended by late September of the following year, it called for the greater, if any, of Liberty Mutual's amount or what Safeco's own severance plan, COBRA-related benefits included, would have paid, after a signed release. If you joined through a later purchase, such as Ironshore, a question for the benefits team is whether any transition terms were written for your group. Each state's unemployment amounts and filing steps are on our state benefits pages.

How Liberty Mutual's layoffs compare to other companies

Liberty Mutual's cut of about 850 jobs came as other insurers were cutting too. GEICO announced 2,000 job cuts that October, 6% of its staff, and Farmers Insurance said in August it would shed 11%, about 2,400 people, Business Insurance reported.

A sourced history of Liberty Mutual layoffs

• February 2024, 250 more layoffs in a restructuring

  Liberty Mutual confirmed 250 more layoffs in retail markets, global risk solutions and corporate departments, effective April or May, Business Insurance reported. Staff could be offered other positions and were eligible for severance and outplacement if they chose not to pursue them.

• October 2023, about 850 layoffs in a multi-year transformation

  Liberty Mutual confirmed about 850 layoffs, 2% of its U.S. workforce, across retail markets, global risk solutions, technology and corporate groups, many by year-end, Business Insurance reported, with eligibility for severance and outplacement and encouragement to apply internally.

• July 2023, about 370 jobs in a U.S. reorganization

  As it formed U.S. Retail Markets, Liberty Mutual eliminated about 370 U.S. positions across all functions, many by the end of September, Carrier Management reported, with each person encouraged to apply internally or set to receive severance and outplacement.

• February 2019, New Castle, Pennsylvania layoffs and remote shift

  Liberty Mutual planned to lay off 136 of 620 New Castle employees, 68 each from its call centers and central billing, shift call-center staff to working from home and put the building up for sale, a spokesperson told the New Castle News, per Insurance Business.

• 2017 to 2018, Seacoast IT jobs cut in Agile overhaul

  Liberty Mutual confirmed in August 2017 that 620 IT positions at its New Hampshire Seacoast sites were going while it created about as many, offering GoForCode training for the new openings. About 120 got layoff letters on January 8, 2018, NH Business Review reported.

• September 2017, Ironshore and LIU US combined

  After buying Ironshore from Fosun, Liberty Mutual eliminated 210 positions across the combined Ironshore and LIU US operations, largely to cut duplicated roles, Insurance Business reported.

What to do if you're laid off from Liberty Mutual

• File for unemployment in the state where you worked. Benefits run from your filing date, and severance usually doesn't block you. Liberty Mutual's biggest hubs: Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, Washington. Somewhere else? Every state is here.
• Apply for financial and hardship assistance. Unemployment supplements income, but food benefits, health coverage and utility help are often available as well. Here's some of what Liberty Mutual's hub states run: Illinois, Maine, New Jersey, Washington, and every other state is here.
• Mind the health insurance window. Losing coverage opens a 60-day special enrollment period, and an ACA plan usually beats unsubsidized COBRA. Compare your options before the employer coverage lapses, and read how the COBRA clocks run if you are weighing it seriously.
• Get your real runway number. Severance plus savings divided by reality. The calculator takes five minutes.
• Know which clocks are already running. Severance review windows, COBRA election, visa grace periods, and 401(k) rollovers all run on federal deadlines that started at termination. All five deadlines are here.