The Walker Budget Is Already Working! Part CV

Three weeks ago, I pointed out that American Family was warning their employees that layoffs were possible.  It didn't take long for them to go from a possibility to a reality:

Madison-based American Family Insurance on Wednesday laid off 87 people, almost all in Madison and all from the company's information services division, as part of an ongoing effort to cut costs.

The workers — some with 20 years' experience — were asked to leave immediately after they learned their jobs were eliminated, company spokesman Steve Witmer confirmed.

"We tried to strike a balance of being very respectful to the people and talking to them face to face," Witmer said, "but it's also understood that these are people that work in very sensitive positions. So while we believe that our employees are good, honest people, we also need to make sure that we're safeguarding our systems."

How nice of them!

"Thank you for your 20 years of loyalty. Oh, and don't let the door hit you on the way out!"

So why are they laying off all these people? Well, you could guess, if you've read the other 104 posts about how great Walker's budget is:

As an insurance company, American Family's ratio of expenses to premium revenue is a "really key internal measure" in determining efficient operations, Witmer said.

And with premium revenue falling in recent years — as the economy contracted and fewer people bought policies for autos, homes, health, farms or businesses — expenses need to come down, too.

Thanks to Scott Walker centralizing the wealth in the hands of the oligarchs and the plutocrats, there is less money to go around. So things like insurance goes by the wayside when people are struggling just to keep a roof over their head and food on the table.

But that is not to say that American Family is completely off the hook either:

American Family continues to hire for vacant and new positions that are "essential to operating our business, and providing exceptional service to customers," Witmer said, noting recent "all-time highs" in customer satisfaction and business retention.

My question for American Family is why didn't they offer the about-to-be-laid-off workers these new positions? My guess is because after 20 years, they were making too much money.

Greed upon greed is not a good thing.