Optum to lay off 58 in New Jersey amid office move
ILLINOIS, UNITED STATES — Three Optum business units in New Jersey are laying off 58 workers under June filings with the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) Act, with the reductions tied to an office relocation and taking effect August 26.
Optum, the health services arm of UnitedHealth Group, operates multiple offices across New Jersey and has been adjusting its U.S. footprint across several states since 2024.
WARN Act covers 58 NJ roles
According to Becker’s Payer Issues, the June filings cover three entities: Optum Select Management in Somerset (17 roles), Optum Care in Rutherford (five roles), and Optum Services in Basking Ridge (36 roles). All three carry an August 26 effective date.
Optum Services in Basking Ridge accounts for the largest share, with 36 of the 58 roles, while the Rutherford Optum Care office contributes the fewest, at five.
An Optum spokesperson said the company is relocating to a new office and is not exiting the New Jersey market. The company will support affected team members with job placement resources and redeploy talent to suitable open roles within the company, the spokesperson said.
Optum not exiting New Jersey market
The 58-role reduction follows a broader period of operational changes across Optum’s U.S. workforce. In 2024 and 2025, the company shuttered primary care clinics across New Jersey, California, Texas, and other states, citing elevated operating costs and shifts in Medicare Advantage enrollment. Optum also closed its virtual care arm earlier in 2026.
Despite those reductions, Optum continues to grow its vendor operations, including a 10-year information technology and billing services contract signed with Allina Health for services across Allina’s Minnesota network.
Meanwhile, Optum’s offshore operations continue to expand. The company employs approximately 25,000 people across global capability centers in Metro Manila and Cebu in the Philippines, providing revenue cycle management, pharmacy benefit management, and analytics support to United States health system clients.
Optum Philippines has described artificial intelligence (AI) as a tool expected to deepen rather than displace its local workforce.
The New Jersey reduction reflects the broader cost pressures reshaping how large health services organizations structure their U.S. administrative workforce. In-house back-office overhead is declining even at major outsourcing vendors, as business process outsourcing (BPO) partnerships absorb more revenue cycle management, billing, and technology functions.
Health systems evaluating these service models can benchmark providers through the top healthcare outsourcing companies in the United States. As market consolidation continues, the distinction between a health system’s in-house operations and its outsourced services is narrowing.
Related news
- U.S. health systems ease IT layoffs, shift to outsourcing · 2 Sep
- Allina Health, Optum sign 10-year deal for IT, billing services · Feb 2024
- Optum Philippines sees AI driving future healthcare jobs · 29 Apr
Disclosure: Outsource Accelerator uses AI tools in the backend of its editorial workflow. Every article is reviewed and verified by a human editor before publication.
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