Insurance
giant Standard Life is to cut 1,000 jobs and press ahead with plans to shed its
mutual status, the group has said.
The
Edinburgh-based financial services group, which employs 14,500 people, wants to
reduce costs by 20 per cent to improve profitability at its UK life and
pensions arm. Most of the jobs will go from its head office.
At
the same time, it has identified demutualisation as the ‘best option’ to
support existing businesses and realise growth opportunities.
The
jobs are set to be lost by the end of 2004, with the reduction likely to be
achieved through natural attrition, the phasing out of some temporary contracts
and redundancies.
