Fireman’s Fund insurance laid off 68 people last week at its Earth City, Mo. office, and 197 more jobs will be phased out as the insurer eliminates a line of auto coverage according to a St. Louis Times-Dispatch report Wednesday.
The San Francisco-based company is ending its Fireman’s Fund Direct auto insurance program, which is run from Earth City. The program offered discount auto coverage through employers and membership associations. The program was an “experimental operation” begun in 1997, company spokesman John Kozero reportedly told the paper.
“It was more of a distraction from our core business, and we didn’t foresee being really a core player in this line of business,” he was quoted as saying. All 265 workers were told of the decision at a mass meeting Thursday. During the meeting, the company’s telephone was answered by a recording that said the office was closed because of an emergency, Kozero said.
The 68 people dismissed Thursday were reportedly sales and marketing employees. The company expects it will take a year to a year and a half to wind down the business, and the remaining jobs will be cut over that time. Many will be offered jobs in other Fireman’s Fund offices around the country.
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