160 at MassMutual face layoffs due to Empower deal
About 90% of a group of 2,000 MassMutual workers have been informed that they will receive job offers, according to the companies
About 160 MassMutual employees will lose their jobs as a result of Empower Retirement’s acquisition of MassMutual’s retirement plan business.
About half the affected workers are based at MassMutual’s Enfield, Connecticut, office and the other half are in remote positions or based elsewhere, a MassMutual spokesperson said in a statement.
The pending job cuts, which were reported earlier this week by Masslive, would take effect after the acquisition closes later this year. There are about 250 open positions at MassMutual that workers facing layoffs can apply for, according to the company.
Employees facing layoffs were notified earlier this week.
Empower had indicated that some roles at MassMutual’s retirement plan business would be duplicative or would not fit with the combined business. The 160 affected workers will receive severance and job placement assistance and other guidance, it indicated.
The deal, which was announced Sept. 8, affects about 2,000 MassMutual employees who work in the firm’s retirement plan business. More than 90% of the affected workers have been notified that they will receive job offers from Empower when the acquisition closes, pending regulatory approval, the spokesperson stated.
Empower has indicated that most jobs to be offered to MassMutual employees will have similar compensation, and that most people will not be asked to relocate, according to MassMutual.
The sale will add about $167 billion in retirement plan assets to Empower’s business, among about 26,000 plans and 2.5 million participants in MassMutual’s record-keeping unit. When the businesses are combined, Empower would administer about $834 billion in assets among 67,000 plans and 12.2 million participants.
The deal is expected to close sometime in the fourth quarter.
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