A number of people at AIG Life are facing redundancy despite new owners Aviva trying to keep as many people in the business as possible.
Someone affected by the redundancies told FT Adviser that Aviva, who completed the purchase of AIG Life in April of this year, will seek to retain around 80 per cent of AIG Life’s current staff.
This means that roughly 60 members of AIG Life’s staff will be made redundant.
The source stated that, since the purchase was completed in April, Aviva has been deciding what they want to keep and what they do not want to retain from AIG Life.
“They’ve been doing this since the beginning of April through to the end of June and, what they decided during those three months is what they immediately would imbed would be carried across,” they explained.
They added that, in that time, Aviva decided which members of staff will “go down the redundancy route” and that this will mainly affect the front of sales team.
The redundancies were also said to have affected the marketing team and the HR department.
“Officially, from October 1, those who are moving across will move across and those who are exiting through redundancy will exit,” the source added.
However, the source specified that Aviva is going to lengths to avoid redundancies wherever possible.
“What Aviva is trying to do is retain as many people as possible,” they explained.
“What they’ve said is, if they have got any roles in the wider Aviva business, they will give priority interviews to AIG staff.
“They have also said that if there’s matching of skills and broadly a bit of upskilling then they want to transfer them across.”
“That 60 number might reduce by the end of September if some of those people opt to take roles."
Aviva recently closed AIG Life to new business for their group protection products.
Aviva specified that, from August 15 2024, no new protection quotes for new clients will be issued by AIG.
In response, an Aviva spokesperson stated: “Aviva’s intention is to keep as many people in the business as possible and the majority of roles will TUPE into Aviva.
“There will be some roles impacted by the business announcement we made in June, however we are committed to providing opportunities to as many of these individuals as possible elsewhere in the wider Aviva group.
“A number of vacancies have been prioritised for AIG Life colleagues. We appreciate that this is an unsettling time for people and we will work through the process as quickly as possible.”
tom.dunstan@ft.com
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