Legal & General to cut 1,000 jobs by middle of 2027
Legal and General plans to cut 1,000 jobs by the middle of next year as part of a push from chief executive Antonio Simoes to create a “leaner operation”.
The UK’s largest asset manager informed staff on Wednesday on email that it has begun moves to eliminate 10 per cent of its workforce. The programme will involve voluntary redundancies in the UK but the company did not rule out mandatory job cuts depending on the take-up.
“Over the last decade, different structures, processes and ways of working have developed across L&G, making us more complex than we need to be,” Simoes told staff on email.
“To deliver our strategy successfully, we now need to make sure the way we work reflects the business we are becoming. Across L&G, we need to change how we work today and, through this, become a leaner organisation. By the middle of next year, we expect to reduce the size of our organisation by around 1,000 roles.”
The fund management division, which oversees £1.2 trillion in assets, is excluded as it has its own restructuring plan.
Simoes’ efforts
Simoes has been wielding the axe over the company’s size since taking over from former chief executive Nigel Wilson in January 2024.
Simoes, who previously worked for Santander and HSBC, has since announced plans to sharpen its booming pension arm and reduced the group’s four businesses to three by merging its asset management divisions.
He has also brought in a new executive team and pledged to return more than £5bn to shareholders between 2025 and 2027 through both dividends and share buybacks.
An L&G spokesperson said the changes represent the “next stage of transformation”, enabling it to shift resources and investment towards areas where it sees “the strongest opportunities for long-term growth”.
Shares have risen 11.9 per cent since the start of the year to 293.3 pence per share, but have underperformed against rivals such as Aviva and the wider market in recent years.