Nationwide to lay off 400 workers in U.S.

About 140 workers in central Ohio to be affected.

Nationwide COLUMBUS — said Wednesday that it is laying off 400 workers at offices across the country this fall, including about 140 in central Ohio.

The layoffs are across the insurer’s various lines of businesses and staff functions that support these businesses.

The company was not specific about the reason.

“Like most large organizations, we’re always investing in certain areas and constricting in others as we manage our business,” the insurer said in a statement.

“The ongoing adjustments we’re making position Nationwide to provide an increasingly seamless experience for members and distribution partners and position the company for long-term growth.”

Nationwide has about 35,000 employees across the country, including about 13,500 in central Ohio.

The affected workers will receive more than 60 days’ notice, severance and job-placement assistance. Also, eligible workers can apply for any of the company’s more than 800 current job vacancies.

The reductions come amid a difficult time from insurers to maintain profit levels because of costs arising from increased traffic accidents linked to distracted driving. The improved economy makes accidents more likely because motorists are driving more. Also, insurers have been hammered with losses from natural disasters this year.

Nationwide reported an operating profit of $910 million in 2016, its smallest profit since 2012, down from $1.23 billion in 2015.

For the first half of 2017, property-and-casualty insurers paid out $1.01 in claims and expenses for every dollar they collected in premiums, said James Lynch, chief actuary for the Insurance Information Institute in New York, an industry group.

That period doesn’t count the impact from the four recent hurricanes that have struck the U.S. in recent weeks and the wildfires that have hit California and other Western states.

“The industry has been hit by increasing losses on the auto side. The accident rate is climbing the past couple of years. The average size of claim has been accelerating the past couple of years,” he said. “Property and casualty has suffered from the hurricanes.”

Lynch said he can’t comment specifically on Nationwide, but, in general, the industry has been responding by raising rates and cutting costs or doing both.