TIAA-CREF announces restructuring, lays off 500.

As part of a broad restructuring plan designed to help it keep pace with for-profit competitors, Teachers Insurance & Annuity Association of America said it would lay off 500 workers, representing roughly 8% of its 6,000 employees.

The news comes in concert with a plan for the association, which is the largest U.S. provider of individual pension products to colleges and universities through its TIAA-CREF subsidiary, to open a series of "store front" offices near major university centers.

"This is a one-time, company-wide restructuring, and while there were jobs that were eliminated, we feel confident that it will improve our efficiency, as well as our ability to serve our customers," TIAA-CREF spokeswoman Stephanie Cohen Glass said, adding that the layoffs weren't "directly related" to the new regional offices.

According to Glass, most of the job cuts have come through "eliminating the company's large back office operation" and shifting to a greater emphasis on customer service and a more streamlined information-technology system. Most of the cuts are concentrated near the company's New York base of operations, Glass said.