EVANSVILLE —Springleaf Finance has apparently reduced its Evansville workforce, though official details were in short supply Wednesday.
Numerous former Springleaf employees confirmed they were among those let go Wednesday.
Those who spoke to the Courier & Press said they did not want to be identified by name because speaking publicly would put their severance package in jeopardy.
The company did not respond to a reporter’s request to confirm layoff rumors.
None of the laid-off workers knew exactly how many people had lost their jobs, but some said talk at the company was that Springleaf was aiming to reduce its local workforce by 30 percent. It’s unclear whether that goal was achieved with this week’s layoff or whether more job reductions are to come, one source said.
As of Dec. 31, 2010 (the most recent date for which numbers are available) the company had 1,167 branch offices and about 5,900 employees.
A Topix Web page set up to discuss issues related to American General Finance — Springleaf’s former name — had multiple comments from people claiming they were fired Wednesday. One commenter who claimed to be a former Springleaf employee indicated he knew of 75 to 100 people let go in one department.
Springleaf is an Evansville-based financial services company.
Earlier this month, the company posted a Securities and Exchange Commission filing disclosing plans to close about 60 offices in 14 states. As a result, the company said in the filing, it would reduce its workforce by about 210 employees right away and another 190 or so over time, though “this number could change significantly depending on future events.”
Indiana, Illinois and Kentucky were not among the listed states, but the filing did not make clear how many layoffs would be from the branches and how many would come from elsewhere in the company.
In the filing, the company also said it had retained two outside firms “to assist us with identifying ways to streamline our operations and reduce costs, and to provide financial advisory services.”
The former Springleaf employees said they were notified Wednesday morning that their jobs were being terminated, and they were asked to leave by noon. The layoffs spanned multiple departments and affected employees represented various levels of seniority and a range of longevity with the company, they said.
Several Springleaf employees approached at the company’s Downtown campus referred a reporter’s queries to company spokesman Barry Roberts. Roberts did not respond to an email from the Courier & Press.
The Indiana Department of Workforce Development has not received a WARN Act notice from Springleaf, said department spokeswoman Valerie Kroeger. The WARN Act is a federal rule mandating that employers provide advance notice of covered plant closings and mass layoffs — but not every layoff or closing is covered under the act.
In general, the WARN Act requires that companies with 100 or more employees give notice if the layoff involves 500 or more employees; or for 50-499 employees if the layoff affects at least 33 percent of the active workforce.