Written by Diane Benjamin - editor

Guest Writer on State Farm announcement

With the news release of State Farm displacing 4,200 employees in various locations throughout the country, here is what a little research has produced.

The following link offers additional general information from a neutral source which includes more details than the Pantagraph article.

http://www.insurancejournal.com/news/national/2017/05/04/450094.htm

Last year it was announced that the Corporate Headquarters in Bloomington will be the largest campus with 15,000 employees. (Closer to 14,000 right now)

Hub in Richardson, TX: State Farm currently has about 6,900 employees with projections to have 8,000 to 10,000 employees in the NEW North Texas campus—making it the largest State Farm regional HUB of its kind in the United States.

http://www.bizjournals.com/dallas/news/2017/04/17/state-farm-finishing-out-campus-with-room-for-up.html

Hub in Phoenix, AZ: The NEW hub in Tempe will give State Farm enough space to expand their Phoenix-area workforce from 4,500 to more than 8,000,

http://www.t4america.org/2015/03/16/state-farm-is-moving-to-concentrate-thousands-of-employees-in-locations-near-transit/

Hub in Atlanta, GA: The NEW facility will house approximately 8,000 employees. State Farm currently has approximately 5,000 employees in metro Atlanta.

http://www.reporternewspapers.net/2016/02/12/state-farm-hiring-1500-new-employees-in-metro-atlanta/

Office to CLOSE in Tulsa, OK: It is our understanding that approximately 500 local State Farm employees will be impacted out of the 4,200 affected nationally.

http://www.kjrh.com/news/local-news/state-farm-closing-tulsa-facility-move-to-affect-roughly-500-tulsa-employees

Office to CLOSE in Frederick, CA: 600 employees. The large office in Bakersfield, CA will also close.

https://www.fredericknewspost.com/news/economy_and_business/employment/state-farm-to-close-frederick-office-in-employees-affected/article_98f4dcc1-9dfe-5584-9045-2ec26c8d7d2e.html

Offices CLOSING in Indiana will affect about 620 employees —about 310 in Indianapolis and approximately 310 in West Lafayette, the company said.

https://www.ibj.com/articles/63713

Now we just have to wait until 2018 to see how this process unfolds.

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8 thoughts on “Guest Writer on State Farm announcement”

  1. Tari’s already spinning the “jobs coming back to Bloomington” angle – as if it’s because of his leadership or because of anything he’s done.

    What he doesn’t know (or doesn’t want YOU to know) is that most people in these locations are second-income producers for their households and are not mobile. And, of those who are, the majority are not interested in Bloomington, but rather Dallas or Phoenix.

    And so, if we get 150 or 200 people to Bloomington as a result of this, he thinks it’ll overshadow the closing malls and businesses. And he’ll still be touting Green Top grocery and subsidized businesses as signs of his “success” and “mandate for leadership.”

    Reply

    1. Being happy about getting a few jobs that another community looses is a pretty messed up Tari. Really? Let’s celebrate someone other town losing jobs because of few of them might land here? Great way to manage economic development, right? This is called opportunism not leadership. Its like: look how I was there when the scraps from the downsizing of our major economic driver fell off the table! I held our plate so we can catch a few of the jobs someone else looses. Shameful behavior in my mind.

      Reply

  3. Atlanta, Phoenix and Dallas are metro destinations that Bloomington cannot compete with.

    Reply

  4. So all the fancy words and corporate speak that is being used to describe what is happening… here is what they are trying to say: “We lost 7 billion dollars in Auto insurance in 2016 so we doing a massive layoff and restructuring”.

    I might add here that given the situation and State Farm’s massive inefficiencies, 2017 will prove to be another loser. With Lemonade coming on line, expect loses soon in renters/homeowners insurance. State Farm is being disrupted and has started down the bell curve toward extinction. Why is Bloomington/Normal not alarmed by this? It can’t happen here, right? Yes it can and it is happening here.

    Reply

  5. And the dinosaurs watched the comet and said”What a pretty sight”
    State Farm DOES have roots here, but IF Illinois don’t change their tax codes, etc, we’ll loose a LOT of GOOD people, and not just State Farm!

    Reply

  6. The trend right now is for companies to consolidate into a few large locations. A lot of companies have been doing this and the trend is only accelerating. While I really hope jobs come here, I’m not holding my breath and will believe it when I see it.

    Reply

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