Nearly 2,000 people stand to lose their jobs over the next three years, UK insurer Aviva has confirmed.
It outlined details of the job losses in a statement announcing plans that its life and general insurance businesses in the UK will be managed separately, which was reported by International Adviser in May.
The insurer said that it will reduce expenses by £300m ($381m, €338m) per year by 2022, which will be achieved through “lower central costs, savings in contractor and consultant spend, reduction in project expenditure and other efficiencies”.
The statement said: “Aviva will look to ensure that redundancies are kept to a minimum wherever possible, for example through natural turnover.
“Aviva has engaged with [union] Unite and our employee representative bodies and will continue to consult on specific proposals.”
A spokesperson for the firm told IA that it was too soon to tell where the redundancies will take place.
There are around 30,000 employees at Aviva, globally.
Split
Angela Darlington has been appointed interim chief executive of UK life and Colm Holmes will be chief executive of general insurance.
Darlington joined Aviva in 2001 and was appointed group chief risk officer in July 2015.
The firm said that “its digital direct business [will be] integrated into UK general insurance” and the changes would “enable stronger accountability and greater management focus on the UK’s leading life and general insurance businesses”.
The split comes months after the appointment of chief executive Maurice Tulloch in March.
Clear opportunities
Tulloch said: “Today is the first step in our plan to make Aviva simpler, more competitive and more commercial.
“We have strong foundations: excellent distribution, world class insurance expertise, and our balance sheet is robust. But there are also clear opportunities to improve.
“Reducing Aviva’s costs is essential to remain competitive and this means tough decisions and job losses which I do not take lightly. We will do all we can to minimise redundancies and support our people through this.
“I am also determined to crack Aviva’s complexity, an issue which has held back our performance for too long.
“Today’s changes will begin to reduce complexity, cost, and duplication, enabling Aviva to be better at serving our customers and delivering stronger results for our shareholders.
“The sustainability and security of our dividend is paramount. We are focused on improving our performance to grow capital generation and cash-flow.”
