Genworth starts reducing its staff

Employees at Genworth Financial Inc. are finding out this week just who will lose their jobs.

The Henrico County-based insurance company is in the process of notifying 1,000 employees, or about 14 percent of its worldwide work force, that their jobs will be eliminated.

A company spokesman would provide no further details, including how many cuts would be made here.

More information will be coming this week, spokesman Tom Topinka said.

The company said in December that it would eliminate these positions as part of its response to the global recession.

Genworth employs 7,300 people, including 1,400 in Lynchburg and 1,750 in the Richmond area.

“A work force reduction is among the most difficult decisions any organization has to make,“ Michael D. Fraizer, chairman and chief executive officer of the company, said in a Dec. 18 statement.

The cuts, in addition to other measures, will help reduce pretax operating expenses by $100 million to $150 million by the end of 2009, Fraizer said.

The company joins other major insurers, including American International Group Inc. and Hartford Financial Services Group Inc., in announcing more than 4,500 job cuts since 2007.

Genworth is among several publicly traded companies based in the Richmond area that have been hurt by the financial turmoil. Others include Circuit City Stores Inc. and LandAmerica Financial Group Inc., both of which have shed jobs and filed for bankruptcy protection.

Its stock closed yesterday at $3.04, down 13 cents. It had dipped below $1 in November.