Aviva cuts jobs in UK
Aviva Group will cut 1,100 permanent jobs from its UK operations in the next few months.
It is also slashing 590 contract positions as the economy falters in the UK.
The jobs will be cut from its Norwich Union Life business in four regional centres in the UK, including its traditional home Norwich.
Aviva said the cuts were the result of three years of projects to simplify operations and improve efficiency.
“As this work nears completion, the number of roles in the business will reduce,” the company said in a statement.
“The majority of these roles are in business change and IT and the remainder are spread across other areas of the business.”
By the end of 2009, Norwich Union Life will have about 800 employees in the UK, chief executive Mark Hodges said.
“We have made significant progress in improving our operational efficiency and are also nearing completion on a series of major change projects,” he said.
“Unfortunately, this means that a reduction in the number of roles in the business is inevitable.”
The UK move is in contrast to the Australian operations where chief executive officer Allan Griffiths has said there will be no foreseeable redundancies in the future, although it has a freeze on recruitment at present.
In a separate move on the same day in the UK, Swiss Re announced it was cutting its global workforce by 10 per cent.
Recommended for you
Financial Services Minister, Stephen Jones, has assured the cost and time to enter the financial advice profession will soon be halved, as shadow treasurer Angus Taylor pledges to reach 30,000 advisers.
The positive results of the latest financial adviser exam have helped the advice profession reach 15,600 yet again, according to Wealth Data analysis.
Financial advice firms have told Adviser Ratings they are planning to increase their compliance spend by almost a third, including on enhancements to their cyber security which ASIC has identified as an enforcement priority.
The digital advice platform is officially launching into the financial advice sector, offering up its services to practices as a means of engaging with the next generation of clients.
