State Farm Insurance Companies has filed a notice with the state, stating it itends to close its Jacksonville Operations Center at 8001 Baymeadows Way.
State Farm told the State Trade and Rapid and Response Coordinator in a June 26 letter that 300 jobs will be eliminated by the end of November.
“This reduction in force/movement of the positions is expected to be permanent,” State Farm Insurance Companies Employee Relations Manager Beth Stuckey wrote.
The first round of 143 job cuts is expected on August 31. The second round of 157 job eliminations is scheduled for November 30. All affected employees have been notified, according to Stuckey. She said State Farm would update the state if "the company's plans or timing of separations change."
State Farm’s shrinking labor force in Jacksonville and nationwide has been ongoing. WJCT News partner the Jacksonville Daily Record reported last year that State Farm had downsized its Baymeadows square footage and had been planning even then to close its Jacksonville facility.
At the time, the Daily Record reported State Farm’s Baymeadows employee count was down from 1,160 employees at the center in 2014 to 650 in 2018.
State Farm, which is privately held, is ranked No. 36 on the Fortune 500 list of largest companies.
The Illinois-based company ended 2018 with 8,876 fewer employees than it had 12 months earlier, according to Fortune.
Fortune reported State Farm attributed its staff reductions in part to its increased use of automation and technology.
The breakdown of upcoming Jacksonville State Farm job cuts is as follows:
August 31, 2019
November 30, 2019
Bill Bortzfield can be reached at bbortzfield@wjct.org, 904-358-6349 or on Twitter at @BortzInJax.
