Legal & General Plans to Cut 1,000 Jobs. Compulsory Cuts Are Possible.

Legal & General wants about 1,000 roles gone by the middle of 2027. That is roughly one in ten positions across the group.

UK employees will be offered voluntary redundancy first. If too few accept, compulsory cuts remain possible. Employees need the team targets and a timetable for what follows.

A simpler company now means fewer jobs

CEO António Simões told employees on September 23 that the company had grown too complex. Legal & General says it will consult unions and shift resources toward growth areas. The plan gives ‘leaner’ a headcount target.

A voluntary programme does not remove the target. The test comes when management counts how many people accepted an offer, which skills left and where it still wants fewer posts. Employees should ask when the company will publish those numbers and whether their function remains in scope.

Asset management is outside this round

Legal & General’s asset management division is excluded from this 1,000-role programme after its own earlier restructuring. The company has not published a role-by-role allocation for the remaining businesses. A groupwide 10% figure cannot tell an individual employee the odds in their team.

Ask for your division’s proposed number, the positions being removed and the work that will move to another team. Those answers are more useful than guessing which job title sounds easiest to cut.

The cuts follow stronger results

In its August half-year results, Legal & General reported core operating profit up 7% and core operating earnings per share up 11%. It said about £450 million of a £1.2 billion share buyback had been completed by the end of July. Management had already described its strategy as becoming simpler and more focused.

Those results give employees the real context: management is cutting roles as part of a chosen operating model. Ask which work disappears with a post and which work will land on colleagues who stay.

Get the voluntary terms before making a decision

Employees considering an offer need the full terms in writing: eligibility, payment calculation, benefits, notice, the application deadline and when they would leave. Ask whether a voluntary application can be declined and when any compulsory selection process would begin. Bring the questions to your union representative or staff consultation channel.

If you want to stay, ask how the remaining work will be staffed and whether your role or reporting line is changing. Keep copies of the information the company gives you, and make any career decision against your own finances and options.

What the next update must answer

The next useful disclosure is the split by division and location. After that, employees need the number of voluntary exits accepted, the selection timetable and the shape of the teams left behind. Those details will show how far the 1,000-role plan reaches into each workplace.

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Sources and evidence

Reviewed September 25, 2026. Reuters reported the employee message, voluntary approach and company response. Legal & General’s published half-year results provide the financial context. Questions for employees are our guidance based on the disclosed plan.

1. Reuters: Legal & General’s 1,000-role plan, September 23, 2026 — CEO message, mid-2027 target, voluntary and possible compulsory redundancies, and asset management exclusion.
2. Legal & General: 2026 half-year results — Operating performance, the ongoing buyback and management’s simpler-company strategy.

Important Disclaimer

This article reports public information and offers general workplace guidance. Check your own terms and obtain qualified advice before making a financial or legal decision.