ZURICH, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Newly created Swiss insurer Helvetia Baloise plans to cut up to 2,600 jobs in the coming years to boost profitability, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on
Helvetia Baloise to Cut 2,600 Jobs Post-Merger
ZURICH, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Newly created Swiss insurer Helvetia Baloise plans to cut up to 2,600 jobs in the coming years to boost profitability, a person familiar with the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.
Switzerland's largest multi-line insurer, with a combined market cap of nearly 20 billion Swiss francs ($24.83 billion), aims to shed 2,000 to 2,600 positions by 2028, with 1,400 to 1,800 roles to be cut in its home market.
The cuts will mainly affect the group headquarters and local businesses in Switzerland and Germany. In Germany, 260 to 330 jobs are to be eliminated, the person said.
The Basel-based company employs around 22,000 people.
Helvetia, of St Gallen, and Basel-based Baloise completed their merger on Friday, after announcing the deal in April along with planned annual cost savings of 350 million Swiss francs, two-thirds of which would come from reducing personnel costs.
A Helvetia Baloise spokesperson confirmed the figures, saying there would also be redundancies, though numbers were not yet fixed. The group will rely on natural attrition, typically 7% to 8% of staff a year, as well ass early retirements.
Existing cost-cutting programmes at both companies will continue alongside merger synergies.
Helvetia Baloise operates not only in Switzerland and Germany but also in France, Italy, Spain, Belgium, Austria and Luxembourg.
($1 = 0.8054 Swiss francs)
(Reporting by Oliver Hirt, writing by John Revill, editing by Miranda Murray)
