Aegon UK announces job cuts in its life and pension business

Aegon UK has announced 213 job cuts across marketing, IT and personal assistant support roles in its life and pension business.

The cuts are part of the latest developments relating to the firm’s restructuring programme and its aim to reduce operating costs by 25% at the end of 2011.

Aegon UK also announced that negotiations are underway to outsource the business areas involved with the inbound and outbound documents, which, once completed, will see 106 staff are transferred to the new supplier company Océ.

Aegon said it would seek to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies where possible.

Following the restructure, the firm plans to focus on the two growth markets: retirement and workplace savings.

By the end of March, Aegon had met £37 million of its £80 million cost-saving target through a combination of payroll and non-payroll savings.

In 2010, Aegon announced the reduction of 106 roles in its sales division; 51 roles due to its withdrawal from the bulk annuities market and closure of employee benefits business; and the transferral of 81 staff when its third party pensions administration business was sold to Goddard Perry.

Adrian Grace, chief executive of Aegon UK, said: “This is a challenging time for our people and our business but achieving a lower cost base is essential to ensure Aegon remains a strong and successful business in the years ahead.

“The changes we have announced today mean we remain on track to meet our cost saving targets by the end of this year.”

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