Economical cuts 145 jobs across Canada as part of streamlining efforts
October 22, 2012 by Canadian Underwriter
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Economical Insurance has cut 145 positions across 14 of its Canadian offices, the company announced Oct. 22.
“Constant evaluation and adjustment is necessary for the long-term health of any business. In the increasingly competitive Canadian property and casualty insurance industry, it is vital,” Karen Gavan, its president & CEO said in a statement.
Prior to today, the Waterloo, Ont.-based company had 2,430 employees across its 17 branches and service offices in Canada. The positions cut are across all levels and types of positions and will help improve efficiency within the company, Economical noted.
The company has positioned this step as the latest part of its “business transformation program,” aiming to “streamline, simplify, and automate its operations to increase productivity, reduce costs and improve its service to brokers and customers,” its press statement said.
“We have kept our people informed about the business transformation program and that staff reductions could be expected to help address the changing needs of our company,” Gavan said. “Even so, this has been a difficult decision and we recognize the challenges facing the affected employees. We are committed to helping them with this transition and are proud of the contributions they have made to the company. We wish them well as they move forward.”
In 2010, the company announced its decision to demutualize and has been working on its “strategic options,” according to the company. It “will submit a comprehensive demutualization proposal for mutual policyholder approval after the federal government’s completion of demutualization regulations,” it noted.
Earlier this month, the company announced the sale of the principal operating assets of Seattle-based Mattei Insurance Services Inc. as part of its demutualization efforts.
The company’s brands include Economical Insurance, Economical, Western General, Economical Select, Perth Insurance, Federation Insurance and Economical Financial.
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