HR staff at motoring services group RAC are likely to be among those who lose their jobs following its proposed take-over by Norwich Union, the group’s director of HR has confirmed.
Jill Nealon told Personnel Today that no firm decisions would be made until the summer, but said the coming months signalled a lot of hard work ahead.
Aviva – the parent company of insurer Norwich Union – has said it will strip 80m in costs out of the RAC by losing 900 back-office jobs and offshoring another 800.
The job losses will come from removing duplication in administrative functions and support services, said Nealon. The cuts would be from a joint pool of staff from RAC and Aviva, she added.
“The announcement about cutting staff is massive for us,” Nealon said. “My main job now is handling the uncertainty and managing this transition.
“The majority of people in the company will be quite comfortable and life will carry on for them.”
Nealon said the RAC prided itself on being open and honest with its employees, but admitted that it would be difficult during the next few months.
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“Retaining people and keeping others motivated will be a big challenge for me,” she said.
“The HR team is now having planning sessions about what work should continue and what should stop, and what we spend most of our time on.”
