SPRINGFIELD, Mass. (WWLP)- Massmutual Financial Group announced that it had laid off 150 employees on Tuesday representing about 2% of it’s workforce.
The life insurance company founded in 1851 and serves about 5 million people. It employs about 7,200 people in Springfield and Enfield, Connecticut. The layoffs impact more than ten offices including the companies headquarters on State Street in Springfield.
MassMutual spokesman Jim Lacey told 22News the layoffs were done in response to MassMutuals acquisition of the MetLife Premier Client Group earlier this year and seeing overlaps in certain areas.
Here is the statement from MassMutual:
Since MassMutual’s successful acquisition of the MetLife Premier Client Group earlier this year, we have been working to integrate our two organizations and, as is often the case when bringing together two similar, large organizations, have identified overlaps and redundancies in certain areas.
This has led to a reduction of a small percentage — approximately 2 percent — of our total workforce nationally. These difficult decisions were not made lightly and we are committed to providing support and respecting the privacy of those affected by the changes.
MetLife sold the group to avoid infringing on federal regulations. MassMutual’s $165 million takeover in February added 4,000 advisers across the country to it’s 5,600. Click here to find the statement on the acquisition released in July.
Raymond James Financial Advisor, Mark Teed said, “This was a major purchase and it will send ripples through the industry and it will force competition to react to it.” Teed said acquisitions of a large magnitude show a company growing, “Making this move they’ve actually taken the first step to become bigger stronger and better so the competition will have to respond by doing something equally as audacious and we’ll see how it plays out.”
Over the past five years MassMutuals workforce has grown by 35%, and the company has about 300 open positions listed. MassMutual’s financial statements show $29.5 million in revenue for 2015.
Filings show the company laid off about 350 workers in February, and another 100 in April.
Click here to view the companies quarterly filings.