Fears for Irish jobs as Aviva restructures European arm

THERE IS concern that some 200 jobs may be under threat at Aviva Ireland, amid fears that the insurer’s European arm is planning further restructuring of its business.

The insurer is in the process of moving the Dublin-based holding company for its European headquarters to London, having announced less than two years ago a decision to locate its headquarters in Dublin.

While this has had no effect on job numbers, Aviva Europe – which is responsible for 12 individual national units including Ireland – has begun a consultation process on the overall strategy for its IT operations. Consultations with union representatives took place in Madrid last month.

Three years ago Aviva Ireland, then Hibernian, announced it was to move more than 500 jobs from Ireland to Bangalore in India.

A spokeswoman for Aviva Ireland said yesterday that no decision has been made regarding the company’s operations in Ireland. As with most companies, Aviva continues to review operations on an ongoing basis to drive and reduce costs, she added.

Scheduled meetings between management and unions are due to take place early next week in Dublin.

A number of senior management have left Aviva Ireland this year. David Simpson, who had been chairman of the company since mid-2008, is the most recent high-profile executive to depart.

His resignation came less than two months after the resignation of head of Aviva Health, and former chief executive Jim Dowdall, who had recently taken up a role with Aviva Europe. Stuart Purdy, who was chief executive of Aviva Ireland between 2007 and 2009 before taking up a senior European role with the company, left this year to take up a position with rival RSA.

The executive changes in Ireland have taken place within the context of wider changes within Aviva Europe. Earlier this year Andrea Moneta, who was responsible for consolidating Aviva Europe’s 12 different national groups into one European business and who oversaw the decision to locate the company’s headquarters to Dublin, left the company.

Aviva Europe, which excludes the UK, is increasingly taking a central role in the strategy decisions affecting its 12 constituent national units.

Aviva Ireland employs in excess of 2,000 people in Ireland, with more than half employed in Dublin. It also has smaller operations in Cork, Galway as well as branch offices around the country.

Aviva has more than 1.2 million customers in Ireland across the general insurance, life and pensions and health insurance markets.

While profits at Aviva Ireland’s health division have been rising, sales in its life and pension division fell by 17 per cent last year.

In January, Aviva said it was increasing its health insurance premiums by 14 per cent from March 1st following a similar move by VHI.