- Legal & General Group Plc plans to cut about 10% of its workforce
- The job reduction aims to enhance company efficiency and performance
- No specific number of employees affected has been disclosed yet
Legal & General Group Plc plans to eliminate around 1,000 jobs by mid-2027, or roughly 10% of its workforce, as Chief Executive António Simões pushes ahead with a programme to simplify the insurer and improve efficiency, according to reports.
The Gaurdian reported that the London-headquartered insurance and pensions group informed employees on Wednesday that it had started the process of removing about 1,000 roles.
Most of Legal & General's roughly 10,000 employees are based in the UK. The initial phase of the restructuring will focus on voluntary redundancies, while the company could consider compulsory job cuts depending on the response, according to the report.
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Legal & General said the programme represents the next stage of its transformation under Simões, who became CEO in January 2024. The company's fund management business, which oversees around £1.2 trillion in assets, is excluded from the latest exercise as it has a separate restructuring programme.
Why Is L&G Cutting Jobs?
Simões has been restructuring Legal & General since taking charge, with a focus on simplifying its operations and concentrating on its core businesses.
In June 2024, he announced a sharper focus on the group's pensions business and reduced its four operating divisions to three by combining its asset management businesses. The company has also sold several assets it deemed non-strategic, including housebuilder Cala Homes, along with legacy land and real estate holdings.
Simões has also assembled a new executive team and committed to returning more than £5 billion to shareholders between 2025 and 2027 through dividends and share buybacks.
In an email to employees, Simões said Legal & General had made significant progress in simplifying the group and establishing three core businesses. However, he said different structures, processes and ways of working had developed over the past decade, leaving the company more complex than we need to be.
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The CEO said the company needed to change how it worked and become a leaner organisation.
A Legal & General spokesperson said the changes would help the company focus its resources and investment on areas offering the strongest opportunities for long-term growth.
The company also said it recognised the impact of the restructuring on employees and would support staff through the process while consulting unions.
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