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Insurers trim staff to reduce losses

By Li Huayu (chinadaily.com.cn)
Updated: 2009-01-15 16:06

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After a year of severe losses, some poor-performing or even loss-making insurance companies in China are planning or have executed strategies to trim staff as an effort to get out of the business doldrums amid the market downturn.

Several companies have put in place a performance-based refusal system, in which the lowest-performing employees will get the pink slip. The practice is a management tool used in Chinese insurance companies, but was rarely enforced prior to the current economic situation.

One insurance company said it would implement the system without limiting the number of employees to be discharged. Other Chinese-funded insurers even demanded their subsidiaries boost the turnover to a certain degree.

"To those insurance companies without a sound structure in terms of organization and staff, it may mean a good opportunity for them to readjust to avoid repeated work," said an insider.

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The full text is available in the January Issue of China Insurance. Please visit publications for more subscription details.