Insurance giant Direct Line has revealed plans to slash about 2,000 jobs, including 150 in Glasgow, as it aims to shave about £130 million off its cost base next year.
The UK’s largest car insurer, which was spun off from Royal Bank of Scotland last year, has already started consultations with affected staff and their unions, and said most of the roles will be lost across its head office and support functions.
A spokesman said about 150 jobs were under threat in Glasgow, where the group employs about 1,000 people, working mainly in call centre activities, across two sites at Cadogan Street and Rutherglen.
The proposed redundancies are on top of more than 1,200 job losses that the firm announced last year.
Bromley-based Direct Line said it hoped to redeploy staff to other roles where possible, while trying to find opportunities with other potential employers for affected workers.
Chief executive Paul Geddes said the gross annual cost savings being sought are more than double the £100m target that the firm originally announced in August 2012. As a result, it faces restructuring costs of £180m, up from its previous estimate of £100m.
He added: “While we continue to invest in the business with the aim of winning in a market which is changing fast, it’s clear that we need to become more efficient to deliver the good service and value our customers expect.
“We have not made these proposed changes lightly and understand the impact they will have on our people. As we have done in the past, we will deal fairly and carefully with those impacted, and do all we can to support them through these changes.”
The new savings target means Direct Line expects its cost base to be about £1 billion in 2014, compared with £1.1bn in 2011.
Direct Line, which also offers home, travel and pet insurance, last month reported an operating profit of £107.5m for the first three months of the year, up from £80.9m a year earlier but short of the £111.9m forecast by analysts.