The primary month of the yr ended solely per week in the past, however job losses have already pushed everybody into the trenches. LinkedIn, Reddit, Blind: These social media boards are a flurry of “I was laid off,” “I was impacted,” and “open to work” posts, creating a way of panic.
From questions of what comes subsequent to a neighborhood coming along with help and a rise in paid Substack and freelance work, that is the aftermath of earnings season.
A newer addition is AetnaCVS Well being, a part of the CVS Well being household of corporations, which battled downsizing in 2024-2025.
The well being care firm posted a WARN (Employee Adjustment and Retraining Notification) discover informing of its choice to lay off 313 staff at its Hartford, Conn., workplace.
Of those, solely 17 are Hartford residents, whereas others work remotely. CVS Well being cited “operational changes in CVS Health Aetna’s Small Group business segment” as the motive force of the layoff. The worker separations will take impact between April 3, 2026, and July 31, 2026.
Whereas this provides laid-off employees 60 days, it doesn’t make the job hunt any simpler. The variety of folks out of a job through the April to June interval has elevated significantly this previous month.
Extra Layoffs:
- Goldman Sachs makes unemployment prediction
- 179-year-old tobacco large sends blunt message to employees
- 118-year-old delivery large simply delivered employees a harsh message
- Amazon delivers extra dangerous information for employees earlier than earnings
Most roles impacted are in Small Group gross sales/account administration analysts, underwriting, and plan sponsor providers.
These layoffs are usually not the primary for the medical health insurance supplier; moderately, they’re a part of a routine restructuring to trim prices and steer investments.
Hartford has been on the receiving finish of job cuts greater than different cities. Between 2024 and 2025, it has seen greater than 1,000 layoffs.
- Oct. 2024: 416 job cuts
- Nov. 2024: 42 job cuts
- Dec. 2024: 164 job cuts
- Jan. 2025: 13 job cuts
- Feb. 2025: 22 job cuts
- Oct. 2025: 72 job cuts
- Feb. 2026: 313 job cuts
Workers who work primarily remotely are handled as assigned to the Connecticut location.
CVS Well being and its restructuring plan
Mother or father Firm CVS Well being has additionally been constantly shrinking its retail bodily footprint as customers shift to digital purchases.
In a strategic overview in 2021, the corporate determined to reorganize its companies by assessing its CVS Pharmacy retail operations and, consequently, “reduc[ing] store density in certain locations.”
In 2024, the corporate opened 39 new shops, relocated three shops, and closed 299 shops.
In a earlier SEC submitting, CVS Well being additionally indicated plans to shut an extra 271 retail shops in 2025. Extra info on this can be accessible at its This fall earnings report due on February 10, 2026.
These restructuring prices are being optimized by its main expenses, which come from:
- Retailer impairment cost
- Company workforce optimization prices
- Severance and employee-related prices
These layoffs are a part of the broader $2 billion cost-cutting initiative the corporate introduced in 2024, wherein it said it will scale back 2,900 roles over the following few years.
As well as, CVS Well being has additionally been engaged on its well being care supply ambitions. In its Q3 2025 earnings name, President J. David Joyner deliberated on its $5.7 billion goodwill impairment in Well being Care Supply.
The write-down of this cost is straight associated to their acquisition of Oak Avenue Well being clinic and the corporate’s choice to sluggish its development, as the corporate reportedly paid greater than it anticipated and realized it couldn’t develop as shortly because it initially deliberate whereas remaining worthwhile.
Beforehand struggling Aetna CVS Well being, now again on observe, continues to drive “impactful and exceptional results,” because it as soon as once more grew to become the trade chief amongst nationwide gamers within the 2026 Medicare Benefit Stars Scores. Nonetheless, this yr it is going to exit its Particular person Alternate enterprise, which offers Inexpensive Care Act (ACA) well being choices in some locations.
In the meantime, CVS Pharmacy is investing in buying Ceremony Assist property to leverage a market alternative.
CVS Well being Company inventory was up 2.8% noon on Friday, Feb. 6, marking a 5% acquire this previous week.
Associated: Layoffs in January attain recession-era ranges
