AIG, the national insurance giant, closed its office in Scott Depot last Friday, laying off 10 employees.
The layoffs and office closure, according to responses from the company and information from former employees, is the result of ongoing changes being made to the national insurance carrier.
Stasa Cushman, AIG's director of corporate communications, confirmed that the office in Scott Depot had been closed, but refused to comment on the number of jobs or specific locations that would be affected moving forward.
"On Jan. 7, we restructured our AIG Financial Network business by moving certain financial professionals to AIG Partners Group, our distribution channel for independent agencies," Cushman said. "Unfortunately this involved staff reductions at AIG Financial Network locations throughout the U.S."
Former AIG employees at the Putnam County location said the closure of the office and the layoffs came out of nowhere.
Ronald Reimert, who has worked for the company for roughly 20 years, said none of the staff in Scott Depot were told of the layoffs until last Friday, when a human resources director and security visited the office.
Reimert said he and his co-workers were later informed during a conference call that the office was closed immediately.
He said they were asked to hand over their computers and other corporate property and to collect their things. Many of them were provided a severance package.
"To close just like that, it just doesn't make sense," said Reimert, who was awaiting a promotion in February. "We didn't have a clue. We were kind of blindsided."
During the conference call, Reimert said the company told employees in Scott Depot that their layoffs were part of a larger corporate restructuring that could impact as many as 172 offices nationwide, including the AIG office in Morgantown.
Again, Cushman would not confirm those numbers, but she said the layoffs were needed to improve AIG's operations.
"While difficult, we strongly believe that these adjustments are critical to AIG's overall strategic direction and simplified business model to ensure efficient resource allocation going forward," Cushman said. "We are committed to delivering innovative insurance products and excellence in service as we strive to become our clients most valued insurer. And we are committed to treating all AIG employees with dignity and respect."
Reach Andrew Brown at andrew.brown@wvgazettemail.com, 304-348-4814, or follow @Andy_Ed_Brown on Twitter.