Allstate to Lay Off 3,800 Employees

Allstate Corp., one of the U.S.’s largest home and car insurers, announced Wednesday that it plans to lay off 3,800 employees in claims, sales and support roles.

The layoffs represent about 8% of the insurer’s approximately 46,000 workers.

Of the job cuts, about 1,000 are tied to the company’s pandemic-related refunds to policyholders.

American Airlines and United Airlines to furlough a combined 32,000 workers

American Airlines and United Airlines plan to furlough a combined 32,000 workers starting Thursday, when federal aid expires.

 “I am extremely sorry we have reached this outcome,” the American Air CEO said in a letter to employees. “It is not what you all deserve.”

Both airlines said they would reverse course if lawmakers and the Trump administration reach a deal for a new coronavirus stimulus that includes more airline payroll support.

The terms of $25 billion in federal payroll support Congress passed for the ailing sector in March prohibit airlines from cutting jobs until Oct. 1. The aid was meant to help airlines cope with a sharp drop in bookings until there was a significant recovery in demand, which hasn’t materialized. 

Airlines spent the last several months urging lawmakers for another $25 billion in payroll support, a proposal that has won bipartisan support. That would have preserved jobs through the end of March, despite weak travel demand.

United Airlines to cut 16,000 jobs

The Chicago-based airline's workforce will be about 26 percent smaller than the roughly 91,000 employees it had before the coronavirus outbreak.

United Airlines on Wednesday said it is planning to cut more than 16,000 jobs as early as next month, after federal coronavirus aid that protects aviation jobs runs out.

Those involuntary cuts, many of them furloughs that mean employees can be called back if demand returns, make up close to 17% of United’s staffing level at the end of 2019.

The number, however, is far lower than the 36,000 staff Chicago-based United warned in July that their jobs were at risk. The reduction is thanks to thousands of volunteers who accepted buyouts, early retirement packages and more than a dozen other forms of temporary leaves or reduced schedules. Airlines pleaded with employees to take such options to reduce their headcounts, offering perks like continued health care in some cases, a selling point during the pandemic. More than 7,000 United employees opted to separate from the company.