Delaware State News
DOVER — Insurance giant Aetna confirmed Monday that it will train all the employees who work in its claim center to do their jobs from home.
Rumors that Aetna would be pulling up stakes had been circulating in town for several days.
"This is not a job reduction. It’s a real-estate consideration," said Aetna spokesman Walt Cherniak. "It gives us an opportunity to retain valuable staff while helping Aetna reduce its real estate expenses."
The Dover center on South Bay Road employs 169 staffers who process claims and service national accounts.
"The great majority of these are people who are on the phone with customers," Cherniak said.
However, not every staffer will make the transition, Cherniak said.
"There may be some who don’t meet the specific requirements for work-at home positions," Mr. Cherniak said. "That would be an extremely small number — 10 or fewer."
"We may offer some the opportunity to relocate," he added,
Aetna claims processors who were taking breaks or eating lunch outside the building Monday said they were excited about their future working at home. None would give their names.
The company’s goal, Mr. Cherniak said, is to have all staffers trained by the end of November, then let the lease expire in December.
For Dover, that will be the end of an era, of sorts.
Rosa Wilson, property manager for the Blue Hen Corporate Center and Mall, said Aetna has been leasing the 36,857-square-foot building for 15 years.
The sprawling complex in South Dover, formerly known as the Blue Hen Mall, now houses the State Bureau of Identification and the State Service Center.
Aetna, with headquarters in Hartford, Conn., employs 35,000 people nationwide.
It offers insurance to such companies as Bank of America and Lockheed Martin. It also provides health benefits to more than 175,000 clients who work for the state of Delaware.
William G. Neaton, Dover’s economic development manager, called it a "good news/bad news sitaution, "The good news is the jobs are going to be retained in Dover, but it’s bad news for one of our developers, Pettinaro."
Mr. Cherniak said training will begin this fall. He said Aetna will likely provide needed hardware for the transition.
He was not able to answer when asked what would happen if an Aetna employee doesn’t have cable or the Internet.
"Those kinds of things will be handled on a case-by-case basis," he said.
