The air raid/tornado sirens were blaring at 10:00 am. How appropo. Can’t wait to see how Tari and Koos spin this news. Jokes aside. Diane is right. This will have a dramatic impact on our community, which most people are underestimating.
900 that have to find jobs that don’t exist. Don’t forget their families. I hear the ones transferred out aren’t guaranteed a spouse will get transferred with them just because they are also a SF employee.
True, but there are a ton PM jobs available throughout the state/country. They’re also quite lucrative, probably paying more than they would ever get at SF.
Agreed. Let’s assume we believe SF’s statement about 15,000 employees still in BN. The positions to be brought in are claims folks. So, we trade high skill, high salary IT professionals, including managers, for claims/customer service jobs. Not good. By the way, Guest, 900 is a lot of people in a community of this size. This will be felt throughout the community. It’s time for the local economic cheerleaders in City and Town government, Chamber, and EDC to step up acknowledge and confront this new reality. The sky might not be falling (yet) but this is serious stuff and it seems Diane and Lawrence are the few willing to call out our so-called leaders, public and private, across the board.
Nothing to see here right… move along… it’s only 900 jobs… and this is just the beginning – this company is in free fall right now… don’t take my word for it… see what the employees are saying about State Farm.. https://www.thelayoff.com/state-farm – so what is the ripple effect here of losing 900 highly paid jobs and having hundreds of people move out of town? Nothing to see here right? How many houses will be dumped on the market here when there are no buyers able to buy them? 150? 200? 300? Nothing to worry about, right? Guest?
@Guest, 900 families with well paying jobs. Housing market will be affected. Sales tax revenue will be even lower. All of those restaurants that these families frequent will have fewer customers. 900 families will have a significant economic impact.
Bloomington is still working on the budget. There is a work session scheduled for Saturday. I wonder how the SF announcement will affect the Council discussions.
🐥
Haha! You’re quite the jokester, Diane. More than likely, Tari will blame you and then present an “economic stimulus package” to put Bloomington “back to work again”. I can see it now…Bike paths to nowhere, community centers, bus terminals, Route 66 tourist traps, and Downtown redevelopment. [sigh]
Based on numbers published this morning, the net loss for B/N is about 140 employees. That’s 1% of their B/N workforce. Chicken Little, the sky is NOT falling….
Exactly, Diane! Also, by stringing this out as State Farm has, the company continues to see all of its most talented and ambitious people voluntarily leave for new opportunities, most assuredly in different communities. Those who can leave will leave. So, State Farm is left with people that are “lifers”, generally (I said, generally) these folks are the 9-to-5, no creativity, check the boxes and go home crowd. State Farm faces some huge challenges in the digital age. I’m very concerned about the future for them and BN.
Really? perhaps you missed what BN Deserves Better just wrote? Here it is again just for you>>> So, we trade high skill, high salary IT professionals, including managers, for claims/customer service jobs. Not good. By the way, Guest, 900 is a lot of people in a community of this size. This will be felt throughout the community. It’s time for the local economic cheerleaders in City and Town government, Chamber, and EDC to step up acknowledge and confront this new reality. The sky might not be falling (yet) but this is serious stuff and it seems Diane and Lawrence are the few willing to call out our so-called leaders, public and private, across the board. OK, Yyamahahawk now we are calling you out… Maybe you should take off the rose colored glasses for a few minutes and spend some time on listening to what real State Farm employees are saying about a company (their company) that is in free fall downward right now… go look at it and then come back and tell us all what you think… you can even comment on the layoff site too… you can tell the men and women that what is happening to them and their company is just their imagination. https://www.thelayoff.com/state-farm Nothing to see here right…move along all is good in bubble town (what some State Farmers call it).
It is hard to get excited about things I have no control over. My glasses are not rose-colored, but they’re not gray either. And I know only one or two people who work at SF, so I’m insulated from them also.
Please read the layoff site – you seem to get excited about downplaying the demise of our main economic driver? Families and kids here are going to be hurt – I am not talking about just State Farm people getting buyouts and fancy severance packages – I am talking about the ripple job loss of regular people who work in service and supplier companies here – people who will get shown the door and will get only 25 weeks of unemployment compensation. We are talking about kids here having their lives forever altered by this… what is more serious than kids being thrown into a layoff situation that could potentially lead to all kinds of bad things happening to them. (divorce, substance abuse by parents, suicide, poverty, loss of home or housing) – this is not a parlor game. This is as serious as a heart attack…. these are our friends and neighbors we are talking about and they will have few job options in this town once this all begins.
From an insider – There has been a glut of flat performers. Now that cuts and offers are being made, those high-performers are taking the huge severance packages and leaving. This means those low-performers are left to carry the load. They can’t handle the job and won’t leave because they KNOW they won’t get a better job. This resulted due to management being weak and no employee reviews. They probably won’t fire these loafers because they fear lawsuits for unlawful dismissal (i.e. no employee reviews were negative, never a PIP, etc.). Executives made this thorny bed and now the community has to pay.
Just announced, Tari Renner to declare the 1 occupancy food court at Eastland mall a TIF district.
Anyone need a cheap eastside barn home? Most come with .5 acres of carpet. Faux brick siding and guess what in a few years it will need a new roof. Bargains galore. It’s a buyers market. BTW, no need to fix the streets. The city had no plans to anyhow. At least for now the toilet flushes and it disappears down this hole. Not sure what the future holds however. Buyer be aware. .
I have been a software developer for 16 years. The list of positions that are “over staffed” include the coordinator/middleman type jobs. These are highly paid positions. The claim rep jobs moving in will not be paid nearly as much. Better than minimum wage jobs at hotdog stands at least. Anyways, the trend amongst all companies is to eliminate these types of jobs and push the responsibilities into the software developers (who them automate them) and the actual business side (who are more than happy to not have multiple layers of people to work through). It will be tough to find similar jobs anywhere.
And Lia is correct that the high performers are leaving in droves. A friend of mine left and got a work from home job with a 30% raise. I personally got a 50% raise but had to move far away from Bloomington. At least I won’t be stuck paying for the pension mess created by people I never voted for because I was too young to vote when they were elected.
So, 30 local leaders are attending One Voice using local tax dollars to solicit federal dollars for a CT transfer station downtown Bloomington and an underpass in downtown Normal. Wow!
Seriously, I’m shocked too. 30 is ridiculous! State Farm is laying off high skill, high paid works and replacing just some of the local headcount with near-minimum wage jobs. Meanwhile, these 30 chuckleheads are going on a field trip to beg the federal government to fix the problems they refuse to address, much less attempt to resolve.
Yes… All of our business and government leadership are just completely clueless to the reality that we are now facing. Having 30 of these boneheads wandering around Washington DC while we begin a major economic decline is some sort of pinnacle of disconnect that could only happen here. I think we have a possibility in the future of becoming a professional study about “what not to do”.
This is the beginning of the end of Bloomington/Normal as we know it today.
The air raid/tornado sirens were blaring at 10:00 am. How appropo. Can’t wait to see how Tari and Koos spin this news. Jokes aside. Diane is right. This will have a dramatic impact on our community, which most people are underestimating.
900 people. You guys can stop your sky is falling rhetoric
900 that have to find jobs that don’t exist. Don’t forget their families. I hear the ones transferred out aren’t guaranteed a spouse will get transferred with them just because they are also a SF employee.
Well, that is how capitalism works. They’re IT jobs, I’m sure they’ll be able to find jobs, maybe not here, but they won’t be unemployed long.
Project managers are also being cut, it would be hard to find those jobs here.
True, but there are a ton PM jobs available throughout the state/country. They’re also quite lucrative, probably paying more than they would ever get at SF.
Agreed. Let’s assume we believe SF’s statement about 15,000 employees still in BN. The positions to be brought in are claims folks. So, we trade high skill, high salary IT professionals, including managers, for claims/customer service jobs. Not good. By the way, Guest, 900 is a lot of people in a community of this size. This will be felt throughout the community. It’s time for the local economic cheerleaders in City and Town government, Chamber, and EDC to step up acknowledge and confront this new reality. The sky might not be falling (yet) but this is serious stuff and it seems Diane and Lawrence are the few willing to call out our so-called leaders, public and private, across the board.
Whatever they are doing has until December to be completed. It’s only March.
Nothing to see here right… move along… it’s only 900 jobs… and this is just the beginning – this company is in free fall right now… don’t take my word for it… see what the employees are saying about State Farm.. https://www.thelayoff.com/state-farm – so what is the ripple effect here of losing 900 highly paid jobs and having hundreds of people move out of town? Nothing to see here right? How many houses will be dumped on the market here when there are no buyers able to buy them? 150? 200? 300? Nothing to worry about, right? Guest?
@Guest, 900 families with well paying jobs. Housing market will be affected. Sales tax revenue will be even lower. All of those restaurants that these families frequent will have fewer customers. 900 families will have a significant economic impact.
All the doctor and dentists that lose patients without insurance. It will spiral through the entire local economy.
Bloomington is still working on the budget. There is a work session scheduled for Saturday. I wonder how the SF announcement will affect the Council discussions.
🐥
Since their budget is twice Normal’s, they should be able to cut $40,000,000. Yes, a joke.
Haha! You’re quite the jokester, Diane. More than likely, Tari will blame you and then present an “economic stimulus package” to put Bloomington “back to work again”. I can see it now…Bike paths to nowhere, community centers, bus terminals, Route 66 tourist traps, and Downtown redevelopment. [sigh]
Based on numbers published this morning, the net loss for B/N is about 140 employees. That’s 1% of their B/N workforce. Chicken Little, the sky is NOT falling….
I guess you missed the pay scale of the lost jobs verses the new ones.
No, I didn’t. I’m just more optimistic than many who post here.
Are you optimistic about Illinois too? The same people running that sinking ship are running both cities.
Exactly, Diane! Also, by stringing this out as State Farm has, the company continues to see all of its most talented and ambitious people voluntarily leave for new opportunities, most assuredly in different communities. Those who can leave will leave. So, State Farm is left with people that are “lifers”, generally (I said, generally) these folks are the 9-to-5, no creativity, check the boxes and go home crowd. State Farm faces some huge challenges in the digital age. I’m very concerned about the future for them and BN.
Really? perhaps you missed what BN Deserves Better just wrote? Here it is again just for you>>> So, we trade high skill, high salary IT professionals, including managers, for claims/customer service jobs. Not good. By the way, Guest, 900 is a lot of people in a community of this size. This will be felt throughout the community. It’s time for the local economic cheerleaders in City and Town government, Chamber, and EDC to step up acknowledge and confront this new reality. The sky might not be falling (yet) but this is serious stuff and it seems Diane and Lawrence are the few willing to call out our so-called leaders, public and private, across the board. OK, Yyamahahawk now we are calling you out… Maybe you should take off the rose colored glasses for a few minutes and spend some time on listening to what real State Farm employees are saying about a company (their company) that is in free fall downward right now… go look at it and then come back and tell us all what you think… you can even comment on the layoff site too… you can tell the men and women that what is happening to them and their company is just their imagination. https://www.thelayoff.com/state-farm Nothing to see here right…move along all is good in bubble town (what some State Farmers call it).
It is hard to get excited about things I have no control over. My glasses are not rose-colored, but they’re not gray either. And I know only one or two people who work at SF, so I’m insulated from them also.
Please read the layoff site – you seem to get excited about downplaying the demise of our main economic driver? Families and kids here are going to be hurt – I am not talking about just State Farm people getting buyouts and fancy severance packages – I am talking about the ripple job loss of regular people who work in service and supplier companies here – people who will get shown the door and will get only 25 weeks of unemployment compensation. We are talking about kids here having their lives forever altered by this… what is more serious than kids being thrown into a layoff situation that could potentially lead to all kinds of bad things happening to them. (divorce, substance abuse by parents, suicide, poverty, loss of home or housing) – this is not a parlor game. This is as serious as a heart attack…. these are our friends and neighbors we are talking about and they will have few job options in this town once this all begins.
From an insider – There has been a glut of flat performers. Now that cuts and offers are being made, those high-performers are taking the huge severance packages and leaving. This means those low-performers are left to carry the load. They can’t handle the job and won’t leave because they KNOW they won’t get a better job. This resulted due to management being weak and no employee reviews. They probably won’t fire these loafers because they fear lawsuits for unlawful dismissal (i.e. no employee reviews were negative, never a PIP, etc.). Executives made this thorny bed and now the community has to pay.
Just announced, Tari Renner to declare the 1 occupancy food court at Eastland mall a TIF district.
Anyone need a cheap eastside barn home? Most come with .5 acres of carpet. Faux brick siding and guess what in a few years it will need a new roof. Bargains galore. It’s a buyers market. BTW, no need to fix the streets. The city had no plans to anyhow. At least for now the toilet flushes and it disappears down this hole. Not sure what the future holds however. Buyer be aware. .
I have been a software developer for 16 years. The list of positions that are “over staffed” include the coordinator/middleman type jobs. These are highly paid positions. The claim rep jobs moving in will not be paid nearly as much. Better than minimum wage jobs at hotdog stands at least. Anyways, the trend amongst all companies is to eliminate these types of jobs and push the responsibilities into the software developers (who them automate them) and the actual business side (who are more than happy to not have multiple layers of people to work through). It will be tough to find similar jobs anywhere.
And Lia is correct that the high performers are leaving in droves. A friend of mine left and got a work from home job with a 30% raise. I personally got a 50% raise but had to move far away from Bloomington. At least I won’t be stuck paying for the pension mess created by people I never voted for because I was too young to vote when they were elected.
So, 30 local leaders are attending One Voice using local tax dollars to solicit federal dollars for a CT transfer station downtown Bloomington and an underpass in downtown Normal. Wow!
Seriously, I’m shocked too. 30 is ridiculous! State Farm is laying off high skill, high paid works and replacing just some of the local headcount with near-minimum wage jobs. Meanwhile, these 30 chuckleheads are going on a field trip to beg the federal government to fix the problems they refuse to address, much less attempt to resolve.
Yes… All of our business and government leadership are just completely clueless to the reality that we are now facing. Having 30 of these boneheads wandering around Washington DC while we begin a major economic decline is some sort of pinnacle of disconnect that could only happen here. I think we have a possibility in the future of becoming a professional study about “what not to do”.
Contact your reps in DC and tell them to block the money!