Reporters have asked me to explain this 2011 video of @petebuttigieg talking about job “duplication” at his client Blue Cross. As a former insurance exec, I will offer some context - and have a request for the mayor that would add clarity for voters (1/7)
First, Pete's team now says these remarks were not "about any recommendation... or analysis" he did, but just an "observation." Of course, if you watch the video, right before talking about making cuts like this, Pete says: "One of the things I did for a living was just that" 2/7
As to the content itself: When Pete says “duplication," that's corporate speak for “too many jobs on payroll.” When he says they didn’t even know what some workers at BCBS were doing, that's how we justified layoffs at my old company. And as we know, that's just what BCBS did 3/7
I see Pete said last night that he's not sure what impact his work had on layoffs or what advice McKinsey gave to BCBS. But I have great admiration for Pete's intellect. And as someone who was on the inside, I know these conclusions were clear and inescapable. 4/7
Indeed, @petebuttigieg's language about it is quite different in the 2011 video, when he talks about "reimagining budgets from the bottom up," and says he did it "for a living" for an insurer. Sadly, words like that remind me of my days in the c-suite during layoff season. 5/7
I have a modest request for @petebuttigieg I believe would show voters great respect. Rather than take his word (or mine) on whether this work involved layoffs & rate hikes, we should let voters see all work product McKinsey produced on the BCBS project - and let them decide. 6/7
I really respect Pete's commitment to transparency. I know some of this material may be subject to an NDA, but an NDA was quickly undone to release his client list. This is a next logical step. I hope Pete will consider supporting this, for the sake of the voters. 7/7
