Zurich Financial cuts 400 jobs

Zurich Financial Services said Friday it is cutting 400 jobs at its North American business insurance unit, the second significant insurance industry layoff announced in the Chicago area in as many days, according to Crain's Chicago Business. The Swiss financial giant employs 10,500 in its Zurich North America Commercial unit, 2,200 of whom work in its Schaumburg headquarters and another 500 in other Chicago-area offices, a spokesman said. The cutbacks are spread throughout Zurich’s 110 offices nationwide, and the company isn’t disclosing how many of those cuts are local, he said. Northbrook-based Allstate Corp. Thursday confirmed the planned layoff of 109 information technology workers in the north suburbs. Business insurers like Zurich have struggled to maintain underwriting profit margins as premiums on commercial property and casualty policies have fallen due to heightened competition.