Health insurer Aetna Inc. has warned employees that it will pursue “selective” staff cuts as it adjusts to the major economic downturn it expects for next year.
Hartford-based Aetna employs 36,139 people, up slightly from the 35,396 it employed in the second quarter this year.
Chairman and CEO Ronald Williams did not say how many cuts would be made in a memo posted on the company’s intranet site. He also did not offer a timeframe.
Williams said Aetna was looking at staff reductions as it pursues “all appropriate options” to reduce costs.
“The bottom line is that most U.S. businesses anticipate a major economic slowdown in 2009 and are taking steps to streamline their organizations and cut costs,” Williams wrote. “We must do the same.”
Aetna will add a couple of big national accounts Jan. 1, when Bank of America Corp. and Home Depot Inc. join its customer base. Company leaders said during its third-quarter conference call last month they expect to add 800,000 new members next year.
But the insurer also anticipates a slowdown. Managed care companies lose business when their employer customers cut jobs and decrease the number of people covered by insurance.
Aetna is making other cost cuts, too. It is restricting hiring and has cut travel for internal company meetings, among other measures.
