MetLife Group Inc. and SafeGuard Health Plans Inc. told the Texas Workforce Commission that it will be shutting down its call center operations at 10500 Heritage Blvd., Suite 160, on the city's North Side.

Some 47 SafeGuard employees at the site are expected to be laid off starting on or about June 30 of this year. Additional layoffs are expected throughout the year. The call center has a total of 54 employees.

Karen Eldred, spokeswoman for MetLife, says the company decided to "consolidate its MetLife and SafeGuard call centers."

Most of these employees, Eldred says, will be given opportunity to relocate to one of the MetLife call centers in either Tulsa, Oklahoma or Utica, New York.

Those relocating will be offered a lump sum to assist with their relocation.

"For those employees who don't transition, they will be offered severance pay and outplacement support services," she says.

The consolidation, she says, is expected to be seamless for its customers who will be routed to other call centers.

SafeGuard provides dental and vision benefit products in Texas, California, Florida and Nevada through HMO subsidiaries in these states, as well as through an insurance subsidiary called SafeHealth Life Insurance Co.

MetLife purchased SafeGuard through one of its subsidiaries last year.

New York-based MetLife Inc. (NYSE: MET) is a provider of insurance and financial services that has operations across the U.S. and in the Latin America, Europe and Asia Pacific regions. It has some 49,000 employees worldwide.

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