British Insurer Legal & General to Cut 1,000 Jobs

Global Insurance Desk: Legal & General plans to cut around 1,000 jobs by the middle of next year, roughly 10% of its workforce, as chief executive António Simões pushes to streamline the FTSE 100 insurer and pensions group into a leaner organisation.

The London-based firm informed staff on Wednesday in an internal email that the reduction programme will begin with voluntary redundancies across its UK operations.

Most of L&G’s approximately 10,000 employees are based in Britain. If voluntary take-up falls short of the target, the company has indicated it may turn to compulsory cuts. The asset management division, which oversees about £1.2 trillion in assets and already went through its own restructuring last year, is excluded from the latest round.

Simões, who took the top job in early 2024 after previous roles at Santander and HSBC, has been reshaping the business since arriving. He has already cut the number of divisions from four to three and sold non-core assets such as the Cala Homes housebuilding arm. In his message to employees he acknowledged that different structures and ways of working had built up over the past decade, leaving the group more complex than necessary. The latest job cuts form the next stage of that transformation so that the organisation matches the more focused business L&G is trying to become.

A company spokesperson said the changes would allow greater investment in areas with the strongest long-term growth prospects, particularly the pensions business. L&G confirmed it would consult with trade unions throughout the process and stressed its commitment to supporting affected colleagues.

The announcement comes after the group reported solid half-year results in August that beat market expectations. Simões has repeatedly emphasised the need for greater efficiency while insisting the company is not considering any sale. For a firm that remains one of Britain’s largest players in life insurance, pensions and asset management, the cuts mark a clear shift toward tighter cost control after years of expansion under previous leadership.