Legal & General to Cut 1,000 Jobs by Mid-2027 in Restructuring Drive

Legal & General has announced plans to cut around 1,000 jobs by the middle of 2027, a reduction equivalent to roughly a tenth of the British insurance and pensions firm's workforce, as part of a broader restructuring drive.

The job-cutting programme will begin with voluntary redundancies in the UK, though the company has said it will consider mandatory job cuts depending on how many employees take up the voluntary option. The scale and pace of the reductions will therefore depend partly on staff response to the initial voluntary scheme.

Chief executive António Simões, who took over from long-serving CEO Nigel Wilson in January 2024, is leading the restructuring effort as part of what the company has described as an attempt to build a "leaner organisation." Simões has pursued a series of strategic changes since taking the helm, aiming to streamline operations and improve the company's competitive position in the insurance and pensions market.

Legal & General is one of the UK's largest insurance and pensions providers, managing retirement savings and investments for millions of customers. Large-scale job cuts at major UK financial services firms have become increasingly common in recent years as companies seek to control costs amid competitive pressure and, in some cases, increased automation of back-office functions.

The company has not detailed which specific business units or locations will be most affected by the reductions, though the voluntary redundancy phase is expected to begin in the near term as the restructuring plan moves forward.