Cigna seeks to significantly downsize its office space in Visalia.

Insurance giant Cigna plans to cut office space at its Visalia call center by half as of Jan. 31, 2021.

Cigna currently leases 96,000 square feet in what used to be its building on Akers Street and Tulare Avenue in Visalia. The 177,000 square-foot Class A office is now owned by Tulare County as of 2015. The county uses much of it for its own office space.

According to an agenda item for the Tulare County Board of Supervisors for Sept. 29, Cigna only wants 44,637 square feet going forward — half of what they have been using in recent years and about a quarter of what they had when they opened decades ago.

The county staff report said Cigna has been paying $135,000 a month for the space, but now will pay about $63,000 a month.

The effect on employment levels from this move in Visalia is unclear since many of the company’s employees work at home, even before COVID. A few years ago the number of Cigna jobs in Visalia was listed at 700, making it one of the largest employers in town. Cigna had employed as many as 1,400 in 2001 after construction of the new Cigna office.

Another large Visalia employer, Jostens, once had 700 employees as well, but it will close permanently in a few weeks.