The Hartford to pink-slip 500 employees

The Hartford (Conn.) Financial Services Group Inc. has announced that it will lay off 500 employees — about 1.6% of its total work force — this month, citing falling revenue and investment losses. Currently, The Hartford employs about 31,000 people. The affected employees work around the country in the life and property-casualty operations, as well as on the corporate side. They will be notified of their fate by the end of the month. The layoffs, announced internally yesterday, had been mentioned by management in an Oct. 29 conference call with analysts. After reporting a $2.6 billion loss, or $8.74 per share, in the third quarter, The Hartford said it would cut jobs and other expenses to save $250 million in annual costs by the end of next year. All of the laid off employees will receive severance pay and assistance in finding work inside or outside of The Hartford, according to a spokeswoman. She would not disclose specifically whether individuals in the life distribution channels and wholesale were going to lose their jobs.