There have been significant lay-offs at online insurance firm QuoteWizard.
According to a report at
GeekWire.com, the company has cut around 50 people – that’s about 30% of its staff – primarily from its Seattle office, although some jobs have also been reportedly cut in Denver too.
The start-up firm was founded back in 2006 and was once one of the fastest growing companies in its native Washington state with more than 8,000 agents across the USA currently making use of its services. It enjoyed so much success that it was able to offer a satellite office in Denver last May, with its employee head count approaching 200 in total and a further 50 then expected to be added this year.
However, that plan has changed dramatically.
In a move that was first reported in
The Seattle Times, the company has now turned to job cuts.
“We made these difficult decisions as part of our effort to remain competitive in an extremely challenging environment where industry dynamics have recently shifted, customer budgets are constrained and competition has continued to escalate,” said Scott Peyree, QuoteWizard CEO, in an emailed statement reported on by
GeekWire.com.
The decision marks a dramatic turnaround – we previously reported back in May (see
article) that the company was in line to score $100 million in revenue. Indeed at the time the company hoped that by letting insurance providers purchase leads online it could actually double that target by 2020.
However, the job cuts, which are said to be a mix of voluntary and involuntary lay-offs, appear to be partly a repercussion of many insurance giants adjusting their marketing budgets because of the spate of recent natural disasters and other competitive factors which have affected budgets.
It is reported that more than 100 staff will remain across Seattle and Denver combined.
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Online insurance marketplace on target for $100 million revenue
