Zurich North America News and Happenings.

What do you think -- is this company going to survive and thrive? Are they looking to expand their staff, or do you think layoffs are inevitable?

How does Zurich North America stack up against the competition?

Will survive, but with a fraction of the staff it had earlier this year. 4% of the US force was laid off in April, rumor has it another wave will come in July. They are doing some sort of LEAN process improvement now.

I maybe a little partial with this response . . . . . .
Working at Zurich for almost a decade in the Tampa office I find our adjusters out rank other adjusters in knowledge of insurance laws, traffic laws, ethical practices, etc.

It's unbelievable some of the things adjusters from other companies don't understand, don't know and are put behind a desk on the phones with very little knowledge and instructions. I believe this is a poor representation of a company.

Zurich drills you and prepares you for most situations. The managers are knowledgeable and helpful. You are representing your company. You must represent them well.

Not a week goes by that I am not shocked by adjusters at other companies with their "thinking". I will not call any company names but these are companies we as individuals have our personal auto, homeowners insurance with. There are so companies out there we are not confident with having our insurance with just because of the adjusters we speak to.

But hey, what choices do you have? These are companies that dominate the personal lines insurance. They advertise about the professional service they will give you when you need them the most. HA! UNBELIEVABLE!

Zurich builds claims defense on INVESTIGATIONS (most important part of a claim)
ZURICH CLAIMS TAMPA ROCKS!!!
ZURICH IS HERE TO STAY!!!

Is zurich Tampa office looking right now

andiedog in Riverview, Florida said: Is zurich Tampa office looking right now

Is Zurich Tampa office looking right now for what? or How is Zurich Tampa office looking?

Industrygirl in Tampa, Florida said: Is Zurich Tampa office looking right now for what? or How is Zurich Tampa office looking?

I have done adjusting work for 15+ years. Auto pip bi gl subrogation and arbtation. I also a done workers compensation clains and a grad of Vale tech-Workers compensation school. I currently have a 620 florida appointment.
I am looking to see if the office located by rock point (tampa) is currently looking for adjusters.
I have worker with the zurich system as a claims consultant/auitor and some what know the current system.

Could you possibly help. Thank you

Hello Andiedog,

Unfortunately Zurich Tampa doesn't appear to be hiring in PIP, BI or property damage. Remember we just had a layoff in April. This is the department that was hit hard.

Property is posting positions left and right. They seem to be blossoming. This is the only department allowed to hire perm and temp employees right not.

You never know what you might find posted on www.careerbuilder.com

andiedog in Riverview, Florida said: I have done adjusting work for 15+ years. Auto pip bi gl subrogation and arbtation. I also a done workers compensation clains and a grad of Vale tech-Workers compensation school. I currently have a 620 florida appointment.
I am looking to see if the office located by rock point (tampa) is currently looking for adjusters.
I have worker with the zurich system as a claims consultant/auitor and some what know the current system. Could you possibly help. Thank you

Hey Insurancegal!

Zurich Tampa wasn't hit in July. Do you know which and if any offices were?

insurancegal in Chicago, Illinois said: Will survive, but with a fraction of the staff it had earlier this year. 4% of the US force was laid off in April, rumor has it another wave will come in July. They are doing some sort of LEAN process improvement now.

Hey Insurancegal! Were you in the Baltimore office?

www.bizjournals.com/baltimore/stories/2008/08/04/story1.html?b=1217822400%5E1677709

Zurich American Insurance Co. and Celebration Foods, maker of Carvel ice cream cakes, are each laying off hundreds of employees as the economic downturn deepens.

Zurich American notified the state in June that it would lay
off 152 employees in Baltimore effective July 7, while
Celebration gave notice that it would lay off 201 workers at its Jessup plant in August. And as the Baltimore Business Journal first reported July 18, financial giant HSBC also plans to lay off about 450 workers in Owings Mills this month.

Zurich's layoffs were part of a cost-cutting effort announced in April that trimmed about 400 jobs company-wide. The job cuts weren't focused on any one division or job type; Zurich simply asked managers to evaluate where they might be able to cut costs, said spokesman Keith Owens

I am pleased that you are so fond of the Tampa work ethic and environ; I will be beginning there soon and look forward to working with an intelligent mass. Having worked on behalf of a number of personal line carriers, and clearly, including those to which you refer, your comments have instilled a bit of excitement at the prospect of working where knowledge is not a hinderance, but an expectation. Thank you for that.
Do you have any advice for a newcomer...?

Will you be working in Tampa or Jacksonville? I can only speak for the Tampa folks. Just remember any new job you take there will be 2 type of people for sure, uppers and downers. Uppers of course are people you always find something good in everything. Downers are just that, all is doomed lol! Stay away from the downers, I do. I always combat them with something like, "I'm good, can't complain". My worse days with a headache, I will say i'm here. LOL! As I make my way to the coffee pot.

sojo in Jacksonville, Florida said: I am pleased that you are so fond of the Tampa work ethic and environ; I will be beginning there soon and look forward to working with an intelligent mass. Having worked on behalf of a number of personal line carriers, and clearly, including those to which you refer, your comments have instilled a bit of excitement at the prospect of working where knowledge is not a hinderance, but an expectation. Thank you for that.
Do you have any advice for a newcomer...?

andiedog in Riverview, Florida said: Is zurich Tampa office looking right now

well we got about 70 or more cat adjusters now. were you in that crew?

Host said: What do you think -- is this company going to survive and thrive? Are they looking to expand their staff, or do you think layoffs are inevitable?

How does Zurich North America stack up against the competition?

Well, here I am laid off with the others LMTO! Back then after looking around and reviewing I saw how things changed so quickly. After I changed my tone and told everyone we were going to be laid off like everyone else they didn't believe me. I had a gut feeling and no one wanted to listen. So they continued on and bought new cars, new houses and got into more debt.

I paid off my car, eliminated the obvious unnecessary bills and kept preparing. I saved as many vacation days to get back into my last pay check.

Some in April layoff left for vacation and came back to no job. It was indeed a shocker to them in April they had no advanced warning. Unlike December layoff, we got advanced warning that Sept and was informed we would handle the load from the other offices that closed the same day the announcement was being to us. As we received the announcement other offices were being handed their severance packages.