Blue Shield of California will lay off 140 workers.
The nonprofit insurance company will shed employees across seven counties, with the largest number of cuts coming from its office in Oakland, according to Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification documents the insurer filed with the state Employment Development Department. The WARN notice the state agency received Friday said 165 employees would be laid off. The company on Wednesday said the reductions would affect 140 workers.
The discrepancy in the number of affected workers stems from several factors, including employees finding other roles within the company or deciding to leave for other opportunities, a Blue Shield spokesperson said.
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The cuts represent about 2% of Blue Shield's total workforce of approximately 7,500 employees.
"As a nonprofit health plan, Blue Shield of California is driven by its mission to provide access to quality healthcare that’s sustainably affordable for all. This includes reducing administrative costs, operating efficiently, and ensuring we have the right talent, skills, and capabilities in place," the Blue Shield spokesperson said. The spokesperson also pointed to economic headwinds the company is facing.
"The affected employees have been offered assistance through a program that allows them to stay on the job for up to 90 days while engaging in job search and skills training activities with the support of a certified professional career coach," the spokesperson said.
The carrier made headlines in August when it announced it would divide its pharmacy benefit contracts among five companies, rather than relying solely on CVS Health Caremark to manage prescription benefits for its 4.8 million members. At the time, the company said the change would help it save $500 million.
Blue Shield also successfully lobbied the state and secured a contract to manage Medicaid benefits for San Diego enrollees last January after regulators initially snubbed the insurer. The same month, it laid off 370 workers.
Blue Shield's net loss quadrupled to $910 million in 2022 due to a rise in taxes and a decrease in investment income, according to its most recent annual report. Blue Shield reported a 2.4% increase in revenue to $23.9 billion that year.
This story has been updated to include the most recent accounting of layoff numbers from the company. Also, an earlier version of this story misstated the number of counties with affected employees.