Nationwide planning 5% cut to workforce over the next year
According to multiple media reports, Nationwide will be reducing its workforce by 5% within the next year. As of last year, the company had ~25k employees.
The insurer stated that the cuts will come from its property and casualty operations and its technology teams. There will be no cuts in the company’s financial services operations.
Nationwide provided the following statement:
“Nationwide is strong and stable.
As markets change and the company continues our modernization journey, we are positioning our Property & Casualty and supporting technology teams to serve our members and agents for years to come. These periodic business strategy updates typically include shifts in staffing — with some areas increasing and others decreasing — based on evolving business needs.
Over the next year we anticipate P&C and some of its supporting functions including Technology, will collectively operate with fewer positions. This is due to a variety of factors including associates voluntarily moving to other roles within and outside Nationwide, not filling open roles when possible, slowing business in underperforming lines, and operating model changes.
Whenever possible, we are providing advance notice of these changes which will reduce Nationwide’s total headcount by approximately 5 percent over the next year. We can’t speculate on the total number of job impacts. Eligible associates are able to apply for any of the hundreds of open roles we have across the country.
It is important to note that these actions do not impact Nationwide’s financial services business lines.
Staff reductions are always a last resort, and we will support associates throughout their career transition. All impacted, eligible associates will be provided 60-day formal notice, a severance package and outplacement services. We are committed to moving through this period with great respect and full support for those impacted.
Rest assured, Nationwide remains fully committed to Des Moines and the state of Iowa. While our company is evolving from a real estate and staffing standpoint, our community commitments remain firmly in place through the Nationwide Foundation. And our people will remain engaged providing passion, expertise and a collaborative spirit to make the greater Des Moines area a great place to live and work.”
Last year, Nationwide implemented underwriting restrictions to mitigate risk and manage the personal and commercial lines portfolios in the current environment, and earlier this year, the company said it would drop coverage for ~100k pets across the country due to inflation, cost of veterinary care, and other factors.
While the company reported a year of record sales in 2023, driven primarily by the performance of its financial services business group, its P&C business achieved poor results over the last couple of years – in 2023 and 2022, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company had an underwriting loss of $2.3 billion and $1.5 billion, respectively.
Finally, Nationwide and Liberty Mutual are the only two of the top 10 auto insurers to see their 2023 Direct Written Premium (DWP) decline compared to the previous year.
