Software development on the mainframe is in COBOL and PL/I, with Rexx and ISPF/DSM, and IMS and DB2 databases. On the HP 3000s, development is in HP COBOL. At the workstation level, software is developed in Visual Basic, C++, and WISE, primarily, with some Java and ASP scripting on the integration server. Additional database software includes Informix, and MS-Access. Lotus Notes facilitates group collaboration, and flowcharts are drawn in Visio and Flowcharter. There is some software in use specifically designed for the visually impaired.

Official hours are from 8:00 AM to 4:15 PM, Central Standard Time. Technical professionals typically work from 40 to 60 hours a week. Overtime is not paid for exempt professionals; however, the company offers a number of alternative and flexible work schedules, from 4/10 to 9/80 (four days of ten hours each or 80 hours in 9 days, with an extra day off every two weeks). Approximately one to two percent of systems employees telecommute. Seventy-five to eighty percent of the systems staff does not travel. The remainder travel from 20 to 50 percent of the time.

State Farm pays a portion of employees’ group health or HMO, dental, and life insurance. In addition, the company offers optional accidental death, long-term care, and disability insurance. The company fully funds an employee retirement plan, and contributes to employees’ 401(k) and thrift plans. There are seven fixed holidays and three personal days. Employees earn two weeks of vacation to start, increasing to six weeks after 30 years.

Employees are encouraged to take one day off a year to support education activities at local schools. Additional benefits include tuition reimbursement, five-year service recognition and annual holiday gifts. Managers continue a birthday tradition begun by the company’s founder by remembering employees with a card and/or a rose.

State Farm Park includes 88 acres of facilities such as swimming pools; all-weather tennis courts; volleyball, badminton, and shuffleboard courts; a miniature golf course; softball fields; beach house; and fishing. The company sponsors leagues for baseball, racquetball, golf, billiards, and bowling. Company clubs include chess, camping, theatre, shooting, scuba, and gardening. On State Farm Playday, the company brings in a carnival, and it regularly organizes shopping and theatre trips to Chicago.

Within 20 years, State Farm had become the largest automobile insurer in the country, and remains so to this day. In 1929, the company began offering life insurance. Today, it is ranked fifth in that industry. In 1935, the company began offering homeowners and boat owners insurance. By 1964, it had become the largest homeowner’s insurance company. Today, it is also the largest boat owner’s insurance company. In 1965, the company began marketing health insurance, and is today ranked 11th in that industry. In 1998, the Office of Thrift Supervision chartered State Farm Financial Services (known as State Farm Bank), to aid its customers in their banking needs. State Farm Mutual Automobile Insurance Company, known informally as the State Farm Insurance Companies, includes affiliates and subsidiaries that also offer insurance for property, renters, and high-risk motorists. Their network includes 25 regional offices and more than 1,000 claims service centers, servicing 66.2 million policies.

State Farm prides itself on its responsiveness to customer needs. Illustrating this commitment, the company dispatched 600 claims personnel from across the United States and Canada to California, in response to the 1994 earthquake in Northridge. Two DC-8 jet planes were sent to deliver more than 400,000 pounds of office supplies. Five mobile catastrophe offices were set up to handle more than 3,400 phone calls in the first two days.

Not satisfied with being the largest property and casualty insurance company in the country, State Farm continues to emphasize its belief in shared values of quality service, mutual trust and integrity, and financial strength, to distinguish itself from its competitors. Its commitment to being its customers’ first choice may explain why it boasts a 96 percent renewal rate for its auto policies, against an industry average of 92.5 percent.

State Farm hired 325 technical professionals from outside the organization as of August 2001. Nearly half were entry-level positions. State Farm has institutionalized its program to recruit from within by partnering with a local university for technical training of non-IT professionals. Some of its current IT staff were formerly doctors, lawyers, and teachers. Turnover is 4.3 percent. Current plans are to increase hiring of experienced professionals. Candidates are found through a combination of internal job postings, employee referrals, the Internet, and advertising. The company uses Hotjobs.com, Monster.com and a variety of other sites specifically aimed at attracting a diverse population. It recently listed positions ranging from Software Engineer and Programmer Analyst, to Unix Performance Analyst, NT/Netware Problem Management, PeopleSoft Security Analyst, Systems Testing Coordinator, and User Interface Design Inter/Co-op.

State Farm’s recruiting targets the Midwest, from Michigan to Louisiana. Its top schools for entry-level professionals include Illinois State University, Illinois Wesleyan University, and University of Illinois – Urbana/Champaign. Candidates for the company’s intern program should have a B+ Grade Point Average (GPA), strong communication and interpersonal skills and a major or minor in Computer Science or a related field. As one intern described the program in 2001, “The Systems Department is truly a department I’d enjoy coming to work for. Things were well organized, and as a Systems Intern I felt on top of the world and always wanted.”

On the technical side, State Farm looks for candidates with experience matching the position being filled. Over and over again, company representatives emphasized the company’s customer focus. This orientation finds its way into hiring practices also, as the company looks for candidates with above average communication skills, enthusiasm, a strong work ethic, and respect for others. Further, in this complex technical environment, candidates are expected to be self-motivated and be able to learn and apply technical concepts quickly.