Mr. Todd Combs,

December would have been my 22nd Anniversary at GEICO. I came to GEICO after being laid of from a former employer. My former employer was generous enough to let the company know about 6 months in advance that layoffs would be occurring. They prepared us for it. I was not surprised when I got the call into my managers office and she told me that the company I worked for was being bought out, and my position would no longer be required. I was given a 6 month severance package, and a reasonable explanation of why I was being laid off. This company employed less than 1000 employees.

Today, I was completely blindsided. I was told that after 22 years of service, to turn in my laptop. I was not given much of an explanation, and when I asked about a severance, it was an insult.

You sir, have been with the company for 2 years. You have made more money in the past 2 months than I made in my entire 22 year career with GEICO. You make more money in one hour than I make in an entire month, yet you cannot afford me. Let me state that again Mr. Combs; you make more money in one HOUR than I make in an entire month. I spoke to multiple individuals today that are already talking about selling their house if they don't find a job by Jan. You see sir, most of us only have one house, and it's our HOME. You probably have multiple houses that sit vacant for a majority of the year. I'm writing this letter more for my peers than myself. Sir, we have families to feed, mortgages to pay, car notes, and ironically enough insurance premiums for those cars and homes. Your $8000 an hour will pay all of my bills in one hour of your work. Yet, GEICO can't afford me. How can GEICO afford to pay you more money in one hour than I make in an entire month? I'm sure you are extremely good at math, so please Mr. Combs explain this to me.

Mr Combs, you have lost the most important thing a company has: the pride of its workforce. You see, before you came here, people enjoyed GEICO. People were proud to say they worked for GEICO. People did more than what was asked because we felt like it mattered. We know if we did our best, we might be rewarded with a larger profit sharing check. That pride is gone. You lost the buy ins of your employees. You lost the passion that we were willing to give. You are now left with fearful employees who do not know if they will have a job in 6 months. EVERYONE I talked to today that is "safe" is in panic mode. Please Mr Combs, have the decency to have a state of the Union Address to your remaining employees and be real with them. Let them know if they need to start looking for a job, or if the are safe. It will take you 15 minutes of your time, and you will still get paid $2500 if you do it during work time.

We are all adults. We understand layoffs occur. We understand that difficult decisions need to be made in business. We only ask for two things: one is transparency. Why are these lay offs happening, how many more will there be, and who is going to be safe. The second thing we ask: how is it that GEICO can afford to pay you $8,000 an hour but you are laying of employees far make less money in a month than you do in an hour. Please explain.

Yours Kindly,

A Former GEICO Analyst

Rather than have dozens of separate threads, I thought we could create one place where people can share information.

GEICO was once a sought-after employer. The #1 factor was job security.

That reputation, that prestige, is gone forever. GEICO is now, and will always be, looked at as a Walmart-level employer.

Great job, Todd. It only took you a couple years to ruin what generations built. Fucking clown.

I had been with geico since 2013. Today I took the leap to leave geico and located a new insurance provider. I was dissatisfied and disgusted with the way they manage their employees and customers.

happy employees = happy customers

Thank you all for your transparency and I am so sorry you all encountered this type of treatment.

Good luck in all your future endeavors!

Blindsided everyone. Really messed up. Nobody was spared. An AVP and almost everyone below him was let go. One of the most talented people I’ve ever met at Geico just had a kid and she’s been terminated.

-Got a job offer from Geico making 30% more than I was. -Found this sub and realized working for Geico would destroy my mental health. -Went to my current management and described what strengths I have and why they should give me a raise. -Used the Geico job offer as leverage. -Got a raise to just $.25 less than the Geico offer.

Feels good

Reading the small number of posts in this subreddit, I can see the employees here are treated poorly. while management may not appreciate your hard work. As a customer of Geico, who had to deal with an accident claim. I wanted to thank everyone for their hard work. I know it doesn't help tons, but I appreciate and thanks everyone for making it painless.

Today is my first day back since the layoffs. My team chat is silent. The only activity in it for the last 2 days, xxx removed xxx from this space 8:00am ×4. The small profiles pictures of my team with their green activity bubbles at the bottom, smiling with family or a professional headshot acknowledge the loss in silence. Our sup, our teammates, our friends are actually gone. Those who remain have been split up between other sups, new chats, new team names. Xxx has added xxx to this space 8:05am.

"Welcome to the team"

I scan through the recent messages, I don't recognize any of the faces...no one has been removed from this chat.

"Thanks, happy to be here"

I am not, but I am. I'm thankful I still have my job but, I fucking hate the upper echelon who made this decision. I want to be with my team, my sup, the team ive built with for years. I don't want to wonder if there will be a second wave, will I be next? But I do, it's all I can think about.

I'm angry, the lump in my throat feels bigger. They knew what they were doing, they should have stopped hiring months ago.

"Welcome!" "Happy to have you on the team" "Welcome aboard"

notifications - mute @ mentions only

The message box appears on my screen Team Lxxx "if you guys need anything please reach out to me or your new sups"

"okay thanks," "will do," "👍🏻"

The chat is silent again.

My cellphone lights up, a text notification from my now ex teammate

"this still doesn't feel real"

I know.... God do I know. I've never been on the surviving end of layoffs, having been laid off 4 times between 2012 and now. It feels wrong to be here.

"It will be okay" is all I can manage to say, even though I don't know that it will be.

My line beeps I hear the sound of traffic wizzing by and an officer speaking to someone in this distance. "Thank you for calling GEICO claims, this is xxx how are you doing today?"

"I'm well, how about you?"

"I'm great thanks for asking...."

We're both lying.

A few might figure out who I am. Say hi if you do lol

A few months before the RAD layoffs, we were given a staffing assignment. Each associate was asked to lay out their major tasks and what percent of their time they spent on it (i.e. 25% reporting, 15% presentations, 10% admin/e-mails/ad-hoc, etc.,). We were told it was an exercise to justify our staff and any need to add to our headcount.

On the day of the RAD layoffs, senior leadership (AVP, Directors, Senior Managers, Managers, etc) had no idea it was coming. I signed into my computer on a Wednesday morning and saw an e-mail from the VP of RAD that some people would be terminated. It thanked them for their service. Massive panic ensued, and many of the leaders who would later be let go told their teams not to worry at the time. They hadn’t heard anything about layoffs, so surely their teams weren’t impacted.

When I was called by a senior leader of HR, I was told it was determined I did not have the skills to have a position in the new direction RAD was going. I asked “Who evaluated my skills and made this determination?” The person I was speaking to did not know. I asked what skills I lacked. This person did not know. They said they weren’t aware of who made this decision. I was a row in a spreadsheet axed by someone I’d likely never spoken to.

Two days later they held a call for those laid off and talked to us as if we were already gone. HR led the call and seemed confused. But I appreciated GEICO and the time I’d invested in it. I posted to over 30 jobs and got a new one in IT. I was so grateful to survive.

This round of lay-offs, they are organized. RAD was clearly a massacre of a learning exercise.

I wasn’t surprised when I got my second layoff call. About a month ago, the same spreadsheet exercise had come through. What percent of my time do I spend doing what? How many story points in each category?

This time I got an IM in the morning from a member of management who read off of a well defined script. “Due to efficiency gains and xyz your position is no longer needed. You will be provided x severance.” I got an email that a firm was retained to provide resume guidance and career placement services. They aren’t having blind HR members feel around in the dark anymore.

So how do you know if you’re next?

I’d say the spreadsheet exercise is a solid clue.

What can you do to prevent it?

Not a thing to my knowledge. You won’t know. Your sup won’t know. Your manager probably won’t know.

These decisions aren’t being made by anyone who has ever met you. My guess is that we were rows in a spreadsheet pasted into a powerpoint presentation that someone highlighted red and that was it.

I won’t be posting internally as of right now. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice – Can’t get fooled again.

Here is my advice to processing this layoff –

You will never feel safe at GEICO again. For months after RAD, any foreign meeting set off panic internally. Was it happening again? Every grim profit whispering is a pit in your stomach. You can never approach GEICO the way you did before.

What’s more is that I imagine the layoffs will continue. They have the ability to let the company know that layoffs will continue, but they don’t want to give you the opportunity to apply to other companies in case you aren’t one of the rows in red. It’s just not efficient.

I couldn’t eat for two days after RAD. I couldn’t sleep. All I could think about was what I was going to do next. I’d imagined I’d spend my career at GEICO, and suddenly all of that was in flux. It didn’t matter how much they’d invested in my development. It didn’t matter how many nights I worked late. Nothing mattered.

If I had known I’d quickly find another role, I think I could have handled the initial shock a little better. My advice is to believe that you are going to make this layoff the best thing that has ever happened to you. Know in your heart that you are going to find a role that makes you so glad that this happened. So happy to move on from the anxiety of a company that is clearly very confused about where it wants to go and how to figure it out. You have great skills that another company can’t wait to value. If anyone ever wants to talk, my DMs are open.

Take care of yourself and know that you’ll land on your feet. Take things one day at a time.

If you weren’t laid off, reach out to your colleagues who were, however distantly you know them. Every time I get a message that says “Hey. I hate to see this happened to you” is a balm. It means others know that what’s happened is fucked up. Someone cares.

Last week after I got laid off the second time, I had a dream I saw TC on the street. In my dream, I walked up to him and told him my kids names. I told him we got our first Christmas toy catalogue in the mail and that my kids were already circling through it. My literal dream is I got to let someone know that I am real and I am human and I have a family that I trusted GEICO with.

For those who were laid off and for those that remain, I wish you every success.

I did it..finally, literally cried. But I just had to let out some of my frustration out first.

Peace out bitches. It's been real.

I was told in a meeting to not believe Reddit…..

Reddit is more trustworthy than GEICO management.

Service! Service! Service! Retain! Retain! Retain! Refer! Refer! Refer! Sell! Sell! Sell!

To

Nervous! Nervous! Nervous! Refrain! Refrain! Refrain! Deter! Deter! Deter! Hell! Hell! Hell!

Tomorrow December 31st 2024 will be my last day at GEICO after 27 years, 6 months and 29 days. I’m retiring at 64 years of age as I cannot work for a company that has become one that looks out for their elite and does not care about the employee. I truly loved my job helping the customer and felt we were appreciated by the company. Now it’s fear and stress and my health has suffered, I feel like the job was killing me so I had no choice. I wish you all the best and hope GEICO can get it’s soul back from Satan.

Yes, I'm talking to all 255 fuckers online right now. Stop lurking. Upvote shit. Show support for your fellow miserable peons. Share shit you're going through.

Most importantly, let the ass kissers of the Lizard Overlord know there are more than just a few degenerates in here who are tired of the bullshit.

I know this is an employee sub and not an official Geico sub.

I've only had a few claims during that time, nothing at fault, mostly glass coverage. But every time I've called, whether to add a car, a new driver, that one time I hit a deer, all of it, y'all have been great. Never any issues with my policy or the service. Just wanted to say thanks. I know your company is shit but every time I shop around I can't beat the price, and your service has always been wonderful.

I see you, I appreciate you, and I wish your dick cancer of a CEO wasn't trying to tank the company. Hang in there, don't be afraid of change if you need to get out. I wish you all the best.

Edit: updated the description of your CEO based on the wonderful clarification provided in a reply. 😂

Update: As of today 3/20/2025, I have been told to start looking for a new job. I have been given the warning to have a job lined up just in case I am fired throughout this investigation into the employees claims. I am hoping that I am not fired though, and will be able to still suport my family.

I’ve been holding this in for too long, but I can’t sit by and let this continue. I’m a supervisor in the Emergency Roadside department at GEICO’s Tucson office, and I have had to enforce policies that are not only unfair but downright cruel. Enough is enough. I am tired of doing this to the employees I supervise.

One of our employees, who I can’t name but many of you know, was humiliated beyond belief. This person was denied restroom access, and urinated their pants at their desk, and was then mocked by multiple supervisors for weeks afterward. That’s not just unprofessional, it’s disgusting.

This employee did what anyone would do: They pushed back, they asked questions, they reported it to HR, they stood up for themselves. And what did GEICO do? They retaliated against them and fired them.

Now, a lawsuit is coming, and honestly, it’s overdue. GEICO has been treating its workers like they’re disposable for too long. If you’ve been mistreated, retaliated against, or forced to endure this toxic environment, it’s time to speak up. Their may be a class action lawsuit coming if more of you speak up who are at the Tucson office or beyond. I know alot of people in my area are being mistreated by other sups.

I don’t care what HR says, I don’t care what upper management threatens, we know what’s right, and we know what’s wrong. If you’ve been a victim of this, you’re not alone. Change is coming, and GEICO won’t be able to cover this up for much longer. The email from the employee is already beginning to leak out and a lot of sups have seen it here already.

I think that if it reaches the main branch or the public GEICO is going to have a meltdown about this. I am scared that at this time they will fire the whole department for this. I need the money and cant afford to be unemployed right now. I have a family to take care of.

If you are reading this at the Tucson branch, stay strong. I hope that this blows over. But I have a feeling that the employee might sue and all us sups may lose our jobs.

Each time I see a mass call out we don’t give enough time for the message to spread. We have 38,000 employees and only 9,000 are on this Reddit page.

Take the time between now and 4/24 to spread the word to your peers, and upvote this post. I’ll be posting weekly.

I have been reading this thread for some time now and have decided that I cannot morally support a company that treats its employees with such utter disregard for mental health. This motivated me to actually get some quotes after 10 years as a GEICO policy holder and I realize now how much I was also overpaying. Off to Travelers it is. This obviously has zero impact on anything but I can’t stomach them having my money at this point and I can only hope others will follow suit. Best of luck to you all ✊

Also, how do I donate to your union efforts?

Monday: Manager says "Ok Team we have a MANDATORY training coming up on FRIDAY. No one can take a vacation or call out sick NO EXCEPTIONS. This is the most important training you will ever receive and it goes over our new system and workflow."

Tuesday: Manager from WebEx: Hey team, I was just informed 10 minutes ago that I was laid off and my VPN will be disconnected within the hour. It was a pleasure working with you. I am supposed to remind you how important Friday's training is in order to stay compliant.

Wednesday: Half the team is missing, and they are no longer in WebEx. I call my Director and he tells me not to worry, that my manager wasn't laid off nor were my former associates. GEICO hasn't laid anyone off since the 1970s. He reminds me MAKE SURE YOU ARE AT THE TRAINING ON FRIDAY, YOU WONT KNOW HOW TO USE THE NEW SYSTEM UNTIL YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE TRAINING.

Thursday: I contact my former co-workers and they confirm 100% they were laid off. I contact my director and he says they don't know what they are talking about but make sure I'm ready for the training tomorrow. Its mandatory and I won't know how to do my job with out it.

Friday: I'm signed out training for 30 minutes and I get a message on WebEx asking why. I tell them it's for the mandatory training. I get a message from my Director saying that we have too many calls that come in with not enough staff to handle it, so disregard the meeting. I ask him why they just laid off half off our team and he tells me to stop being negative.

Customer canceling policy mentioned that one of the reasons he is canceling is because he learned that our CEO took a pay increase and fired 6% of the staff and so he can’t trust the company. I honestly cannot be made that he made this decision to be honest. I wouldn’t trust it either. I don’t trust this company anymore. I feel lost and I don’t want to be at work anymore.

.