A dozen workers at First Insurance of Hawaii Ltd. will be laid off as of Jan. 1 as the company seeks to reorganize operations.

The Honolulu-based insurer, which has more than 300 employees, told staff about the planned cuts earlier this month to give affected workers enough time to plan for the layoffs, said vice president Stephen Tabussi. The workers include back office staff that handles administrative and operational work.

"This is a planned thing; it’s not a panic thing," he said. "We’re changing the things we do and how we operate. It’s always painful for the individuals involved, obviously, but it is a way of just realigning our resources so we can meet changing market conditions, changing technology requirements, changing customer expectations."

First Insurance has no plans for additional layoffs, but Tabussi said "for companies to remain viable over the long term, you’ve got to reassess as you go along."

"It’s not that major a realignment with all things considered," he added. "It’s not even a major reorganization. Most of the company is not affected."

Tabussi said some of the affected employees will be applying for other jobs within the company.

First Insurance is the largest commercial insurer in the state, offering property and casualty coverage for commercial and personal lines of business.

The Star-Advertiser reported earlier this week that Kaiser Permanente Hawaii has laid off 20 management and nonunion workers, also in an effort to streamline operations.