The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Financial Services Financial And Insurance Activities Insurance, Reinsurance And Pension Funding, Except Compulsory Social Security 65 - Insurance, reinsurance and pension funding, except compulsory social security
1,600 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
5 February 2004
Employment effect (start)
1 February 2004
Foreseen end date
1 December 2004
Description
Aviva, Britain's largest insurer, announced it would close its national broker subsidiary, Hill House Hammond (HHH), with the loss of 1,600 jobs. The closure will be effective by the end of 2004. 1,200 compulsory redundancies are announced. Another 400 people will be redeployed in Norwich Union, Aviva's UK insurance arm. Management put forward the increased popularity of telephone and internet-based direct insurers to explain the closure of HHH's 280 high-street shops. On 7 February 2004, Aviva announced operating profits for last year of £1.9 billion, more than in 2002 and £200 million ahead of the average analyst's forecast.
Sources
6 February 2004: The Guardian
7 February 2004: The Guardian
Citation
Eurofound (2004), Hill House Hammond (HHH), Internal restructuring in United Kingdom, factsheet number 59867, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/59867.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
