ST. LOUIS – St. Louis-based Centene, the country’s largest Medicaid managed-care company in the United States, is laying off thousands of employees.
The Fortune 500 company made the announcement on Tuesday, calling the layoffs “rightsizing our cost structure.” Approximately 2,000 employees will be terminated, accounting for just over 3% of the company’s workforce.
In contrast, Centene CEO Sarah London received $13.2 million in compensation in 2022, with a base salary of $1.35 million, according to Salary.com. Company president Kenneth Fasola was paid $997,519 last year, part of $9.98 million in compensation.
Workers who lose their jobs will receive severance packages and “outplacement services,” according to a company spokesperson.
Centene is committed to improving the health and health care of the members we serve. We are investing to deliver value for our customers now and into the future, both by leveraging our size and scale and by rightsizing our cost structure. We routinely assess our workforce to ensure we have the talent and expertise necessary to support our members and the evolving needs of our business. Our decision was not made lightly and impacts approximately 2,000 employees, just over 3% of our workforce. Centene will support impacted employees with severance packages and outplacement services, consistent with our standard approach.
Centene spokesperson
Clayton City Manager David Gipson said city leadership was unaware of this announcement.
“We have not received any information from Centene. We don’t know anything beyond what has been reported,” Gipson told FOX 2.
It’s unclear if or how the job cuts will affect St. Louis.