One office worker at The Hartford recently showed up at work outfitted with a miner’s light.
She was poking fun at the company’s latest cost-cutting moves, in this case an order to shut off every third row of fluorescents. The miner’s light was supposed to help illuminate her work space … and maybe draw a laugh or two.
To hear rank-and-file employees tell it, turning off office lights is just one of a series of penny-pinching moves by managers at the financial services giant as it seeks federal bailout money.
Other departments have reportedly cut back on or called in company-paid BlackBerrys. Some units have discouraged employees from making color copies when black-and-whites will do, while other department heads issued orders to have their color copiers carted off, employees said.
The Hartford Financial Services Group declined to offer details about its money-saving strategies. Instead, it issued a written statement: “In today’s economy, companies are making prudent spending decisions. The Hartford has engaged in a corporate-wide program to drive unnecessary costs out of our business. As a result of our efforts, we expect to reduce our 2008 expense run rate by an estimate $250 million by the end of 2009.”
Asked specifically about reports from employees that BlackBerrys were recalled and color copiers were carted away, company representatives declined to confirm or deny.
“As I mentioned, we [are] evaluating all opportunities for savings,” spokeswoman Debora Raymond said in an e-mail.
The scrimping comes as The Hartford is seeking access to federal bailout money by buying a Florida savings institution and converting to a holding company that qualifies for a federal capital infusion. In theory, the company could be eligible for more than $3 billion.
The need for extra capital comes at the end of a difficult year for The Hartford. The market has punished the company’s shares after it acknowledged sour investments in Fannie Mae, Freddie Mac, Lehman Brothers and others, as well as heavy exposure to variable annuities.
Shares traded at $6.75 last week, well below its 52-week high of $98.06.
The Hartford is not alone in cutting costs while seeking federal bailout money.
The heads of the three largest U.S. automakers, who are making a pitch for more than $30 billion in federal money by yearend, have agreed to slash their multimillion pay packages to $1 per year. And after being criticized for flying to Washington, D.C., on expensive corporate jets on their first run at swaying Congress, they turned frugal. On their second trip, they drove from Detroit to Washington, D.C., in hybrids.
