HR News

State Farm Hiring Thousands

February 7, 2012

State Farm is looking to fill nearly 3,000 openings across the United States and Canada. Current openings reside in claims, customer service, IT/systems, and underwriting.

“As we continue to define our workforce to best meet our customers' evolving needs, we are seeking skills and talents from numerous diverse labor markets,” says State Farm’s VP of human resources, Mary Schmidt.

State Farm has offices in all 50 states and three Canadian provinces. For more information, click here.

Sabrina Hart Named Zurich's Chief Underwriting Officer

February 2, 2012

Zurich has named Sabrina Hart its chief underwriting officer for its Global Corporate in North America (GCiNA) operations. Hart replaces Paul Horgan who is relocating to Switzerland to become global head of Group reinsurance. She will continue to be located in New York.

"Sabrina's extensive experience in the U.S. market makes her the perfect successor for Paul," said Mike Kerner, CEO of GCiNA. "She will be responsible for leading the team that delivers underwriting solutions for our corporate customers in North America."

Hart returned to the U.S. in August, 2011 to serve as the chief operating officer for GCiNA, following an international assignment in Switzerland as head of Risk Operations within Group Risk Management where she was responsible for driving Zurich's operational risk and control activities.

Prior to that position, Hart served as chief underwriting officer for Zurich North America Commercial's (ZNAC) Specialty Products business. She joined Zurich in 1997 as regional manager of the Healthcare group in the Southeast region for ZNAC.

Hart holds a bachelor's degree in mathematics from the University of North Carolina at Wilmington and earned a certificate in Strategic Management from the Kellogg Business School at Northwestern University.

Progressive Goes on Hiring Spree

January 30, 2012

Progressive car insurance is helping boost a struggling economy in Colorado Springs, Colo., Cleveland, Ohio, and Austin, Texas.

Progressive says 129 positions in sales and service are available in Colorado Springs, while 337 sales, service and claims positions are available in the Cleveland area. In the Austin area, 185 positions in sales, service and claims are available.

Phone representatives will sell policies or answer customer questions. The positions require work experience in a customer service environment. Progressive offers paid training for all positions. Employees also receive medical, dental, vision and life insurance benefits.

Progressive says employees also can enjoy performance bonuses; a casual dress code; on-site medical facilities for employees and their families; aerobics, spinning and yoga classes; quiet rooms for relaxation and meditation; an on-site cafeteria; potential bonuses based on company performance; parenting resources; and tuition assistance.

Utica National Hires SVP

January 30, 2012

Jose L. Trasancos has been named senior personal lines officer with the Utica National Insurance Group. He also was appointed an officer of the company as senior VP.

Trasancos was most recently with Narragansett Bay Insurance Holdings Inc., and brings experience in leading personal lines initiatives and operations, including research and product development. Prior to his experience at Narragansett Bay, he played important roles for both The Hanover Insurance Group and the Progressive Corp.

Trasancos has served as director of the Insurance Institute of Indiana, and has been active as an advisory board member with pricing and analytics organizations Earnix Inc. and SAS Institute.

Utica Names New VP

January 25, 2012

Utica National Insurance Group, a P&C insurance company, has named Andrew B. McCray as director of regional underwriting operations in its New Hartford, N.Y., office. McCray is responsible for directing the company’s regional underwriting staff. He also was appointed an officer of the company as VP.

Utica says McCray joins the company with more than 25 years of experience in the P&C insurance industry, including extensive experience in underwriting and underwriting management. He most recently was VP and southern region underwriting manager with Selective Insurance Co. of America.

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