Positions cut in American Family’s St. Joseph operation

By NewsPress Now

American Family Insurance is eliminating jobs based in St. Joseph.

The cuts are due to recent changes in commercial insurance line offerings, said Janet Masters, a media relations official with American Family. She said the eliminations will come from employee positions in St. Joseph that support large habitational commercial policies for condominium, townhouse and homeowners associations, apartments and bed and breakfast operations.

Masters said the insurance carrier isn’t disclosing how many jobs are being eliminated, and cuts will be achieved through a combination of employees leaving voluntarily and a reduction in positions. She added that all employees impacted by the job cuts have been informed.

“Packages that include monetary, benefits and outplacement support have been offered to impacted employees,” she said in a statement emailed to News-Press NOW. “There are also opportunities for some impacted employees to apply for similar available positions across our operating companies. We’ll work with them as they explore their options.”

American Family has about 530 employees in the St. Joseph area, with a little more than half of them in hybrid positions who at times work out of leased back office space at the company’s former campus at 4802 Mitchell Ave., Masters said. The remaining 240 employees are fully remote.

Masters said American Family is taking actions to improve its commercial lines’ long-term viability and better position its agency force for growth. She added that although the offerings in the commercial product line will no longer be available, American Family is working with customers to find coverage through its brokerage and alliances partner carriers.

American Family continues to offer coverage on rental dwellings and condominium unit rentals, Masters said.