L&G to axe 1,000 jobs in shake up by boss Antonio Simoes amid deepening UK jobs gloom

L&G to axe 1,000 jobs in shake up by boss Antonio Simoes amid deepening UK jobs gloom Insurance giant Legal and General is to axe a tenth of its workforce as Britain’s jobs gloom deepens. The FTSE 100 giant announced a voluntary redundancy programme as it seeks to reduce the workforce by 1,000 by the middle of 2027. It came as separately, figures revealed that private sector employers across the UK have now been cutting jobs every month for the past two years. The purchasing managers’ index (PMI) survey painted a dismal picture of the jobs market under Labour, whose tax and employment policies have been widely blamed for deterring hiring. L&G’s cuts are part of a wider shake-up launched by chief executive Antonio Simoes shortly after he took over in 2024 aimed at simplifying the business – and partly dismantling the legacy of his predecessor Nigel Wilson. In an email to all employees, Simoes said: ‘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. Boss Antonio Simoes said he wanted L&G to become a 'leaner organisation' ‘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.’ Simoes has already restructured the group from four divisions into three and disposed of assets such as housebuilder Cala Homes. He has also brought in a new executive team and said he would return more than £5bn to shareholders between 2025 and 2027. Most of the group’s 10,000 employees are based in the UK. It is understood that the redundancy programme will initially be voluntary in the UK but L&G will consider mandatory job cuts depending on the take-up. The latest cuts do not include the group’s asset management division, which is already undergoing its own restructuring plan shedding about 70 jobs. An L&G spokesperson said: ‘Since 2024, L&G has become a simpler, more focused business. These changes represent the next stage of that transformation.’ The cuts are not expected to hit the group’s graduate hiring programme. It is understood that the rising use of artificial intelligence (AI) to carry out many workplace tasks across the economy did not play a major role in the decision. L&G shares – up 12 per cent so far this year – fell 0.8pc. The announcement came as latest PMI data, compiled by financial firm S&P Global, showed UK jobs continuing to be cut as growth slowed to a crawl and inflationary pressure intensified this month. ‘Employment numbers decreased in September, which marked two years of continuous job losses,’ the report said. An overall PMI reading of 51.7 for September – on a scale where the 50-mark separates growth from contraction – was the lowest in three months. It suggests that the economy is growing at a quarterly pace of just 0.1pc. Chris Williamson, chief business economist at S&P Global Market Intelligence, said ‘subdued business confidence and high costs’ were ‘continuing to discourage hiring’. Williamson also pointed to higher borrowing costs and ‘uncertainty over government policy at home in the run-up to the Budget’ – likely to reflect fears that Labour could hammer business with further damaging tax hikes.