#headcountreduction

Good luck all. Started Monday.

I am in senior leadership. We are being told that there will be a 20% reduction in total headcount. This will happen in waves to minimize any single organization from feeling they are targeted. Employees who stay will be told to take on additional responsibilities. This will give a false sense of security, which will lead to other rounds of layoffs.

H-1B visa holders are not receiving the buyout offers. They will be let go in much greater numbers. Their visa is tied to the job, so once they are out they only have 60 days to find new sponsorship or leave the country. Many of them are being pushed out in these reductions.

The job market will be saturated and many companies do not hire in high numbers in Q4. For the sake of your families I highly recommend reducing your output at Centene and going full time into the job search process. There is no such thing as being safe in this. Even if you make it past the firings you’ll be given more work and no promotion. By the time the company starts to normalize, newer employees will be brought in at much higher salaries.

heard aggressive targets have been given on headcounts to svps...

I have been within current VP org for the last 5 years. I see a good opportunity moving in another group. Did a few interviews and manager said I’m the perfect fit.

My question is, am I more at risk of WFR shifting roles internally? As in, would be the first one to go (if the manager was asked to make headcount reductions).

Thoughts?

Lots of closed doors this week along Director row. What has everyone heard about rifs in July for market level engineering GNT? We are mostly contractors at this point. How much more can they cut?

June 2026
The New Board Member
Last week — on June 19, 2026 — Centene quietly expanded its Board of Directors from 9 to 10 members, appointing Lauren M. Tyler. She comes from over two decades at JPMorgan Chase, where she held roles including Global Head of HR for Asset and Wealth Management, Global Firmwide Chief Auditor, and Global Head of Investor Relations. She also sits on the boards of Cencora and Guardian Life.
On paper, this looks like a routine governance move. But the timing tells a different story.
Tyler is landing on two specific committees: Audit and Compensation and Talent. The Compensation and Talent Committee is the committee that oversees workforce decisions and pay structures — the exact committee with oversight over something like, say, a Voluntary Separation Package going out company-wide.
The Context Nobody Is Saying Out Loud
Centene reported a loss of nearly $6.7 billion in 2025. Medicaid redeterminations have been chipping away at membership for the past two years. ACA subsidy uncertainty is real. And now, with the current administration's push to reduce federal Medicaid funding, the core of Centene's business model — which is roughly 70%+ Medicaid managed care — is under direct pressure.
The VSP is not a surprise. It is a logical first move when a company needs to reduce headcount costs without triggering the optics of hard layoffs. The question everyone should be asking is: what comes after the VSP if not enough people take it?
The Macro Picture
The health sector broadly is in a tough spot right now — and this isn't just a Centene problem. Managed care organizations that depend heavily on government-sponsored programs are caught between:
Federal Medicaid funding proposals that could significantly reduce reimbursement
Rising medical costs that squeezed margins across the industry in 2024–2025
A regulatory environment that is increasingly unpredictable
Centene has actually shown some improvement — they raised their 2026 earnings guidance after Q1 results came in better than expected, largely due to successfully wrestling down medical costs. So it's not all bad. But the workforce reduction is clearly part of that margin protection strategy.
What This Means for Employees
If you are weighing the VSP, here are the honest things to consider:
Evaluate the package terms carefully. Look at severance weeks per year of service, how long COBRA coverage extends, and whether unvested equity is being paid out. Don't just look at the headline cash number.
The job market for healthcare tech is still active. Skills in Go, Kubernetes, observability tools, and cloud infrastructure are in demand outside of managed care. Your experience doesn't disappear when you leave.
Waiting may not be safer. If VSP participation is lower than targets, involuntary reductions often follow. That changes your negotiating position significantly.
The board is tightening its grip, not loosening it. Bringing in a JPMorgan finance and HR veteran onto the Compensation committee right now is a signal about the direction of governance — not a signal that things are about to get more employee-friendly.
Final Thought
The people who built this company and kept it running through a $6.7 billion loss year deserve better than a rushed exit package. But the reality is that the strategic decisions being made right now are being made at the board level, not by your direct manager or even your VP.
If you can swing it financially, taking the VSP and controlling your own exit is better than waiting to see what comes next. If you can't swing it, start building your options now regardless.
Wishing all Centene employees the best — whatever you decide.
This article reflects publicly available information and personal observations. All financial figures sourced from Centene's public SEC filings and press releases.

I will not reveal who I am or what I do in the company. I have heard some concerning numbers for the VSP and layoffs.
Is it true they're aiming for 12,000-18,000 layoffs?

The consultants hired for the F2BOW initiative have set a target headcount reduction of 60-100. This is for business only, tech headcount reductions haven’t been determined yet, but they said there is significant “capacity creation” there as well. No set date, but probably later this year.

Novartis is laying off 60 workers. These layoffs affect Tourmaline Bio. Novartis acquired this Flatiron-based biotech company eight months ago. The acquisition cost $1.4 billion. This action aligns with the Swiss dr-gmaker's ongoing headcount reduction.

New York City, New York

https://www.crainsnewyork.com/health-care/cny-tourmaline-bio-layoffs-20260622/

The company will conduct reductions in force (RIFs) each month. There is a targeted headcount reduction that must be achieved based on forecasts designed to demonstrate that operating expenses are being managed and financial controls are in place.

For this round, approximately 90% of impacted employees will be notified by Thursday of this week, with a small number of notifications extending into next week due to colleagues being out on PTO.

Going forward, colleagues should expect RIFs around the same time each month. However, this month’s reduction is expected to be larger than usual, with a higher number of colleagues being affected.

Bumping this from @b6+1kvr3808t for info.

This isn't "efficiency helping workers." It's using AI to shrink the human side of the business while squeezing the remaining people harder. Classic corporate playbook: Automate repetitive tasks → reduce headcount/support → demand more output from fewer (or worse-paid) humans → call it progress.
AI does boost productivity. But pretending it won't displace or devalue roles — especially when contracts are being rewritten to reflect exactly that — is corporate gaslighting. State Farm isn't the only one doing this, but their "Good Neighbor" branding makes the disconnect especially glaring.

Was lowell worth $180M
Was Hans worth $210M
Over a 15 year time frame
Debt $175B
Stock price-$65 to $45.
Headcount reduced -187K to 87.4k
Is the avg employee ar VZ worth what it became -#1 carrier

We've still got too many employees. Get rid of the right ones and we'd be fine.

In 2023, BNYM had 53,400 FT employees. In the annual report for 2025, there were 48,100 FT employees. Today there are 47,200 and dropping. That’s $1B in cash cuts being counted as profit!!! BNY is hiding poor negative cash flow without truly running and growing the business!!!!! BNY has reduced headcount 12% in 3 years and AI has had nothing to do with it. It’s easy to say your BMI is lower if you cut off a leg. It however doesn’t mean you are able and healthy. Of the 6200 FTE’s who have been consumed by Robin’s ‘cannibits’ , you can be assured that a very high percentage of these were so called bottom performers…..
Yes, RV’s strategy is the ‘serve mankind cookbook’ from the ‘Twilight Zone’.

Heard over 50% of the NRB in the US was let go. Over 100+ people, this is wild

A genetic medicines company is reducing its headcount. The company is cutting its workforce by 50%. This action aims to preserve cash. It is awaiting data for a bladder-cancer gene therapy dr-g. The headcount reduction occurs during this waiting period.

https://www.bizjournals.com/boston/news/2026/06/16/engene-slashes-staff-by-50.html

I don't want to be "that guy," but I'm really struggling to understand the rationale behind the VSP approach. IMO, this has been a massive failure in execution so far, given the number of challenges people have had just trying to access information and understand their options.

What stands out to me most is that this approach seems focused on reducing headcount with little, if any, focus on reducing the right headcount. I'm having a hard time understanding how many long-tenured, high-performing employees are being slated for VSP while employees with less than two years of service who rank as average to mediocre performers are excluded. How can anyone feel good about that?

It feels like the focus is on reducing numbers rather than preserving experience, institutional knowledge, and proven performance.

This approach seems incredibly short-sighted not to mention the impact it could have on Centene's reputation as an employer. When high performers and long-tenured employees are the ones walking out the door, it sends a message, both internally and externally, whether that's the message the company intends to send or not.

Does anyone know or heard a number on how much Centene is trying to downsize? Ive seen articles but they are very hush hush about the target number... only that our membership has decreased by 6%.

I am hearing, atleast from few different levels that they are planning to do mass layoff in Ireland and maybe UK, and eventually exit UK like Germany..not rumors but actual talks. Can't share where and who coz i might get into trouble.

I mean I'm already seeing signs for UK, decreasing headcount each year, only bit up due to German relocation, not much profit and announcements of Canada physical store plans and aggressive US stores plans- they would need money and UK might be bleeding more money and resources.

I would be very proactive to look for jobs given perfect storm brewing.

The week it's going down apparently. Directors+ targeted again and several other Tech Dev roles will be eliminated completely. Plus an additioanl saving's target that will reduce the remaining head count.

Its official directors were in planning sessions last week. June or mid July member protection will have the largest lay off yet. Good luck to everyone because the job market is not good.

The next set of layoffs are scheduled, July 15th, Sept16th, Nov 18th and Jan. 20th. AI is suppposedly going to replace all of the those roles. The rumor is a 25% headcount reduction globally.

60% surplus of LRIS guess AR stores are on their own.

It's already feeding on its own exhaust, and it's way too expensive. Hallucinations are the feature, not a bug. It's an excuse - to offshore, to cut headcount permanently (and dump the extra work on whoever's left), and to save face for leaders who are too embarrassed to admit they bought into the most obvious hype in history.

Layoff of 48 employees at Textron GSE 6/11/2026

Sick of seeing RVs face on linkdin plastering bullsh-t to the public and everyone else who fans over him on there while destroying careers behind the scenes. Oh look hosting our board trash in DC. Spending my millions at the expense of bnys employees headcount reduction. Cut 100 people this week so we can eat fancier meals . Cheerio fu----s

https://youtu.be/IbiKFm5_was

Key takeaways include:
• Workforce Disruption: Schulman acknowledges that Al will inevitably displace a large percentage of traditional customer service roles, particularly those handling routine, repetitive tasks like password resets or billing inquiries (1:10 - 1:29).
• Human-Al Collaboration: Rather than full automation, he envisions a hybrid approach where Al and human agents work in tandem to resolve more complex customer issues, ultimately improving service quality (1:32 - 2:09).
• Future Technological Outlook: Schulman emphasizes that Fortune 100 companies must embrace the ongoing technological revolution. He predicts that society will reach AGI (Artificial General Intelligence) within the next two to four years, followed by breakthroughs in quantum computing and humanoid robotics shortly thereafter (2:17 - 2:57).
• Corporate Responsibility: He stresses that as these advancements unfold, corporate leaders and society as a whole must be prepared and accept the responsibility that comes with managing these powerful technoloaies (3:00 - 3:13).

Rumors are there will be new list coming for layoff every month after June. Main cuts will be in Communication, PMO, Product, Retail, Digital, Engineering, Data, Network, Infra, Observability, Martech and Security.

A few members of our team left abruptly who were close to the senior leaders on our team. We were told their positions will not be backfilled.... Feels like a RIF is coming soon.

PFNA has been running an extended behind the scenes reduction in force for several months now. They call it North Star. They are using 2019 headcount numbers as their target for work force reductions. It has resulted in thousands of position reductions. This year they have severance packages if needed to get to targets. There are interim milestone targets they are working against. But the "ZBB" group is going around the country totaling up reduction targets for all sites that will be then be enforced. This is hourly and salaried. Targets for salaried focused on a salaried/hourly ratio of 13:1 or higher; cross checked with the 2019 headcount. It's a top- down, arbitrary number. SOOOO much has changed since 2019. To try and hit that number is ignorant and will result in substantial performance outages. You may as well have targeted 1971! the logic is just as valid. Classic Pepsico compression productivity. you don't need real strategic business plans, just place arbitrary, impossible targets on your field and gut your capability. Indra perfected this predatory leadership. Her protégés don't know how to do anything else. Pepsico has always believed in cooking the golden goose. How Ramon, Steven and others made deliberate business decisions that cost thousands their jobs yet they continue in position is a damning indictment of the board. Where's the accountability? I guess it's the fault of the frontline? Couldn't be the C-suite's responsible? nah, right?

shows 77 people at the San Jose site were part of the layoff

I heard from several people Friday that the new division is doing a 30% reduction in force very soon

Hearing from a few people that another round may hit by EOM ( May) or sometime in June... word going arund is bottom 10% and retirements could be part of it. Sounds like calibration season all over again.

Business transformation was supposedly the big reset, but now people are saying more org changes and headcount reductions are still coming.

Anyone else hearing this in IT, Finance, Commercial, HR, or the plants?

Feels like management already knows more than they are saying. Same pattern as last time. Silence for months, then sudden announcements.

During the Q2 Town Hall, a question was asked about our strategy to replace commodity IT roles with external partners.

The answer was that we're moving to more of a factory model of labor, and we're going to reduce the need to have specialized 3M knowledge.

Between that and the other half of the town hall being about how we need to scale up our use of AI, it's clear that they're looking to reduce headcount.

So we got told that AI will be doing some of our work, the “easy cases”. I know Tampa will be seeing layoffs this year, anyone got insight if AML will be affected? They’re upping our pace in June due to an uptick in workload

Why is it always on the survivors to absorb everything from the people who got cut? If there's suddenly so much extra work, maybe those people shouldn't have been let go. But there's never any real planning afterward, just an expectation that we'll do the jobs of three people, including things we have no idea how to do.

Unfortunately, if things are falling apart, the only way to turn a profit is to reduce headcount, and that is not sustainable. That works on Wall Street but not with a private company. You do not have investors to impress and no stock price to move , only members who have given more than most and deserve an experience that reflects that commitment.

While expanding membership eligibility may address volume concerns in the short term, it risks diluting the brand's unique identity and the trust that took decades to build.

It is increasingly difficult to demonstrate genuine care for members and their financial well-being when it becomes harder to differentiate from competitors. For the first time in my life, I am looking at other options.

Giving three billion dollars back to members sounds significant until you do the math. Spread uniformly across 14 million members, that is roughly $214 per member per year, while USAA simultaneously raised my home insurance premium by $1,000 with no prior claims. The net result is a loss of $786 before I even start counting.

Meanwhile, member attrition is often attributed to external factors, but internal dynamics are worth examining too. Until member service metrics are quantified and honestly compared with competitors, nothing changes, and the members who built this company will keep doing the math and ask, "What do I get in service to justify the extra cost ?" Right now, no one can answer that question. Pretty sad.

OP: @ke+1krm5bf35

Bumping this up for visibility.

Because the company wants to keep up with all the other tech and telecom layoffs, and they will blame “AI” like the others did.