Insurer Cigna to shed 1,100 employees

Cigna Corp., a Philadelphia-based health insurer, has announced plans to lay off 1,100 employees — approximately 4% of its total work force. The insurance company is trimming the jobs in response to the slumping economy, it said in a statement released yesterday. Cigna anticipates that most of the layoffs will be completed by the middle of this year and that all of the affected employees will be eligible for severance benefits and outplacement support. As a result of the layoffs, the company expects to incur $30 million to $40 million in after-tax cost reduction charges during the fourth quarter of 2008.