GEICO employees report 'mass' layoffs - Insurance News Magazine

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Insurance News

GEICO employees report ‘mass’ layoffs

Multiple departments affected, they say

Insurance News

By
Jen Frost

Insurance company GEICO has undergone another tranche of layoffs, employees have reported on social media.

Several members of staff at insurer GEICO have taken to LinkedIn to confirm they were part of “mass” layoffs last week.

Affected individuals appear to have come from a range of departments, including marketing, customer support, the special investigations unit, and IT.

GEICO has been approached for comment.

GEICO reported its half year results earlier this month, with its $1.22 billion underwriting profit (H1 2022: $665 million underwriting loss) representing a reversal of fortunes for the auto insurance business, which is part of the Berkshire Hathaway group of companies.

The auto insurer reported an underwriting loss of $1.88 billion for the full year 2022, down from a $1.26 billion profit the prior year. It cited “significant” increases in average claims severities, driven by cost inflation in property and physical damage claims as a driving factor for the result, in addition to used car price increases, car part shortages, and injury claims severities that continued to trend higher.

Despite this, underwriting expenses decreased by $881 million on 2021, which GEICO said was primarily driven by a cut down on advertising spend and “lower employee-related” costs.