Venerable insurance and financial services firm The Hartford is axing 110 tech workers in Connecticut as a result of an outsourcing agreement with IBM, a spokeswoman for the insurer said Wednesday.

Under a five-year contract, The Hartford Financial Services Group is turning over to IBM maintenance and management of its software applications, storage and recovery systems.

About 110 technology workers employed at the company's datacenter in Hartford, CT will lose their jobs as a result of the arrangement, according to the company's spokeswoman. An additional 280 will transfer to IBM. The Hartford employs roughly 13,000 workers in Connecticut and 30,000 worldwide.

Lee Conrad, spokesman for Alliance At IBM, a group representing IBM workers, expressed concern that the computing giant may eventually move some of the work performed by the employees absorbed from The Hartford to facilities in India. "Our concern is how well they will be treated as they are assimilated into IBM. Will their jobs be offshored eventually?" asked Conrad.

A spokesman for IBM referred questions about the deal to The Hartford.