The Hartford, one of the Capital City’s largest employers, has seen its Connecticut workforce shrink by 10% over the past year, largely a result of more employees working remotely, the company confirmed.
The Hartford said it currently has about 5,500 employees based in Connecticut compared to 6,100 a year ago.
“About 50 percent of the change to our Connecticut employee count in the past year is due to employees who made an individual choice to move out of state during the pandemic and continue to work remotely for The Hartford,” said company spokesman Matthew Sturdevant. “For the remaining 50 percent of the change in our Connecticut employee numbers, the vast majority has come from natural attrition, talent mobility and reskilling.”
A small portion of the local employee reduction was a result of “involuntary separations,” Sturdevant added.
Hearst was the first to report on The Hartford’s local employment levels. The Hartford Business Journal previously reported on The Hartford’s cost-cutting initiative — called Hartford Next — which had a goal to create $500 million in annual savings by 2022.
Part of that cost-cutting effort was to be achieved through layoffs, the company previously said. In addition its downtown Hartford headquarters at 1 Hartford Plaza, The Hartford has offices in Windsor, Farmington and Stamford.
Like most employers, The Hartford has adopted a hybrid work model, while some employees are working remotely on a full-time basis.
“Attracting, developing and retaining the talent we need to be successful now and in the future is one of The Hartford’s top priorities,” Sturdevant said. “We continue to hire for key roles and the targeted skills we need. Given the tight labor market, we know the best employees always have options of where to work, and we are taking a contemporary approach to talent attraction and retention with a focus on flexibility.”
Sturdevant added that the company is “committed to maintaining a strong presence in the City of Hartford, where we have been headquartered for more than 200 years. We remain consistent, year over year, in the number of employees who are assigned to our headquarters.”
The Hartford’s shrinking local employee count raises questions about how the remote work trend will impact employment levels in Connecticut. With companies, particularly large corporations, allowing a larger share of their workers to work fully remotely, they can recruit talent from anywhere in the country.
That could displace some local jobs. It also gives Connecticut residents the chance to work for companies based out of state, while continuing to live here.
