The Human Cost of Consolidation in Work Comp Vendors

The last month has seen a continuation of the vendor consolidation that the workers' compensation industry has been undergoing for the past few years. As most know, a great deal of this consolidation is driven by private equity investors who see all the money flowing through the workers' compensation industry as a way to achieve growth goals. But there is an aspect of this consolidation that is not being heavily reported. When two companies in the same business merge, there are redundancies. This means jobs must be eliminated. Hundreds of people in the workers' compensation industry have lost their jobs because of this consolidation. In my travels around the country attending conference and meeting with employers, I have had the privilege of meeting so many great people in this industry. It saddens me to see some of these people now unemployed, a casualty of consolidation. It is not a reflection of their performance, but just the law of numbers. When there are two people performing the same function, and the new company only needs one, someone loses. By the grace of God, I have never been laid off. I cannot imagine what a kick in the stomach that must be. I do whatever I can to assist friends in finding jobs, including forwarding job openings, making introductions and being a reference. But the sheer number of people out of work in our industry right now is staggering. How can we help? While some companies are eliminating jobs, others are adding them. We need to match those great people needing jobs with those companies that are adding to staff. In the Work Comp Analysis Group, there is a job discussion board. Here, you can post information about job openings at your company. There is NO cost for this, and your post will be seen by thousands of people in the workers' comp industry. If you have a job opening, I encourage you to post it. And recruiters are welcome to post! I'm reminded of a speech in the movie "Dave," where Kevin Kline, a presidential impersonator, is thrust into the role of president of the U.S. He gave a great speech about unemployment that I think rings true today: "If you've ever seen the look on somebody's face the day they finally get a job, I've had some experience with this, they look like they could fly. And its not about the paycheck, it's about respect, it's about looking in the mirror and knowing that you've done something valuable with your day. And if one person could start to feel this way, and then another person, and then another person, soon all these other problems may not seem so impossible." Let's help find a job for those in the workers' comp industry displaced by vendor consolidation. Let's put the workers' comp industry back to work!