By Howard Packowitz

BLOOMINGTON – Bloomington’s State Farm Insurance said it is realigning key functions of its information technology department, including offering severance payments to an undisclosed number of employees.

State Farm Spokeswoman Missy Dundov said despite the realignment, a majority of the company’s IT workforce will remain in Bloomington.

The changes are necessary, the company said, to “better serve customers’ increasing expectations for simpler, faster, technology-driven ways to do business.”

It’s not known how many IT employees will take advantage of the severance offer.

A fact sheet distributed to the news media said State Farm’s overall local workforce will continue to fluctuate at around 15,000 employees, as hundreds of workers “move in and out of the company’s Bloomington facilities every year.”

However, Dundov would not disclose how many of the 15,000 employees work in IT.

The fact sheet said IT employees will also continue to work in State Farm hub cities of Atlanta, Dallas, and Phoenix.

Nationwide, State Farm employs nearly 70,000 people.

It was mid-September when IT employees began to learn that the company was making realignment decisions.

Only now have workers found out how the changes would impact them, and the spokeswoman said the company distributed the media fact sheet to dispel rumors.

Howard Packowitz can be reached at [email protected]