NEW HARTFORD, N.Y. (WKTV) - The insurance company "The Hartford" is laying off some 500 employees.

Locally, employees tell NEWSChannel 2 the move is only affecting about a dozen positions. However, a corporate spokesperson said the company would not confirm an exact number of those at the New Hartford office that were being laid off, only the total number across the country.

We're told they'll be out of a job by the end of the year.

The Hartford has been suffering hits to its investment portfolio and falling revenues, and had said last week it would slash jobs and other expenses to save in annual costs.

David Snowden, spokesman for The Hartford, said that the company employees 31,000 people total.

The New Hartford office employs 680 people, Snowden said. He added that the layoffs would not deter the company from moving into their new offices in New Hartford on Monday.

"All this is a part of a corporate-wide program to drive unnecessary cost out of our business." Snowden said. "We are filling only business-critical positions, and are also looking to attrition to help us achieve this goal."

Snowden said that all notifications would occur by the end of this month, and the actual last day of those employees laid off will vary by individual and department.

Anyone affected by this will be eligible for a severance package, as well as the company's career transition services to explore positions both inside and outside the company, Snowden said.

When asked if the state of the economy played any role in the company's decision to cut positions, Snowden said "In today's economy, companies are making prudent spending decisions," but would not elaborate further.

Meanwhile, The Hartford's stock jumped $5.96, closing at $16.28 a share on Monday, on company reassurances about financial strength after the shares lost 57% of their value last week on capital concerns.

The company said Monday that at year-end it would have $2 billion more in capital than it needs to maintain AA ratings, assuming an S&P 500 level of 900.

On Oct. 6, The Hartford forecast that it would have $3.5 billion of excess capital, but that was based on an S&P 500 level of 1,165 on Sept. 30.

The Hartford also expects that at year-end its main life insurance subsidiary will have 400 percent of the minimum amount of capital required by state regulators, based on the risk of its operations and investments.

Historically, ratios of 325 percent have been enough to maintain AA ratings, the company noted.

"Our capital position is more than sufficient for current market conditions, and in the event markets deteriorate further," said Ramani Ayer, chairman and chief executive of The Hartford.

The company has sources of additional capital without tapping public markets, he said. Moody's affirmed its Aa3 (excellent) ratings Monday on The Hartford's main life and property-casualty companies, but downgraded the parent company's senior unsecured debt and short-term debt ratings a notch.

The rating agency put a stable outlook on the lowered debt ratings, and the outlook on the property-casualty companies remains stable. But the outlook on the life companies remains negative.