Protective Life enhances commitment to Birmingham headquarters location, leading insurance industry in virtual workforce revolution

Protective Life Corporation is cementing its status as a leading innovator in the insurance industry by announcing a forward-thinking workforce development strategy that bolsters its commitment to a best-in-class culture.

The company, headquartered in Birmingham since its founding in 1907 and now a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of Dai-ichi Life Holdings, Inc., announced on Thursday the expansion of its virtual workforce, as the company refocuses its physical footprint on three core sites: Birmingham, Cincinnati and St. Louis.

Over the next couple of years, Protective will retire its physical offices in Bannockburn, IL; Brentwood, TN; Denver, CO; Elgin, IL; Fort Lauderdale, FL; and Portsmouth, NH.

Employees who regularly work in these six offices will join the company’s full-time virtual workforce, which is expected to represent over 40% of the company’s overall workforce by mid-2022. Protective remains firmly committed to providing resources to help these employees thrive in this new environment.

Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, approximately 19% of Protective employees worked remotely, but over the past six months, 95% of the company’s workforce has been working virtually. Employees have reportedly performed well in this environment, with many signaling they would like to continue doing so post-pandemic, thus Protective decided to accelerate implementation of its nimble workforce strategy.

“As we look to the future with a focus on growth and scale, we know there are benefits to expanding our virtual workforce, and throughout the pandemic, we have learned our employees can succeed in the virtual environment,” stated Rich Bielen, Protective president and CEO.

Protective’s strategically selected core sites, headlined by its Birmingham HQ, offer a unique combination of existing talent, recruiting resources and proximity to key business partners that support the company’s modern growth needs. In addition, its expanded virtual workforce provides more flexibility for employees while enabling productivity and driving operational effectiveness.

“Together, our virtual workforce and three core sites will complement each other, enabling us to serve more customers, deliver excellent partnerships, further attract talent, support our employees and increase our impact in the communities where we live and work,” Bielen added.

As Protective has called the Magic City home for over 110 years, the company is especially looking forward to the benefits the Birmingham core site will offer its on-site and virtual employees.

“Over the past six months, staying connected with each other has been a key driver of our success, and Protective will continue investing in the technology, capabilities and resources to support our teams as we continue to evolve the way we work,” Bielen concluded.

Protective last week announced the company plans to acquire the Revolos family of companies. When closed, this will mark the fifth transaction completed since Protective became part of Dai-ichi in 2015.

A recent release advised that Dai-ichi views Protective as its North American growth platform and continues to aim for further expansion in the region, through both acquisitions and organic growth. Protective last year closed its largest acquisition in company history.

In 2019, Protective also acquired the naming rights for the multi-use stadium at the Birmingham Jefferson Convention Complex (BJCC), which will now be named “Protective Stadium.” The state-of-the-art stadium is currently under construction.