CIGNA announces 100 layoffs in Connecticut

March 9, 2005, 7:14 PM EST

BLOOMFIELD, Conn. -- CIGNA Corp. will lay off 200 information technology employees, including about 100 in Connecticut, and will cut its number of consultants nationwide by 200.

The company, which has been working toward a turnaround, announced the cuts Tuesday, saying it is trying to reduce expenses. The job cuts are not the result of additional outsourcing to India, the company said.

CIGNA is based in Philadelphia, but much of its health care business is in Bloomfield.

The jobs will be eliminated in the next six weeks, affecting positions in Bloomfield and CIGNA locations scattered across the country, company spokesman Joe Mondy said.

The job cuts were expected, covered under a previously announced charge of as much as $50 million for staff reductions this year.

The layoffs are in addition to the company's 665 layoffs in Connecticut last year.

CIGNA also plans to shrink its number of information technology consultants from about 600 at the end of 2004 to 400 by the end of this year, Mondy said.

Mondy said the consultant cuts would be "across the board," affecting CIGNA's U.S.-based consultants and some in India. CIGNA may hire some consultants in the coming months to work temporarily on certain projects, but the overall number of consultants will be reduced by 200 by the end of 2005, he said.

CIGNA is taking the actions "to achieve efficiency and provide CIGNA with a compebreastive cost advantage," Mondy said.