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
1,100 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
13 October 2006
Employment effect (start)
1 November 2006
Foreseen end date
31 December 2008
Description
On 13 October 2006 the Dutch health insurance company Achmea announced that about 1,100 jobs almost one third of total employment in health insurance activities will be scrapped in the upcoming three years. Half of the jobs will be cancelled by not extending fixed term contracts.
Achmea sells insurances under brands like 'Zilveren Kruis', 'FBTO' and 'Groene Land'. Total employment at the Achmea group is 13,500 worldwide.
The background of the announced restructuring is the introduction of a new health care system in the Netherlands as of January 2006. As a consequence of this, a price war started, requiring expensive advertising campaigns. The main reason for the reorganisation actually was that the level of the insurance contribution was not cost effective, as a result of which Achmea made a loss of 15 million euro per month on average. Additional reasons for the reorganisation are the adaptation of computer systems and retraining of employees.
According to the managing director of Achmea, Jeroen van Breda Vriesman, Achmea will continue paying the salaries of the redundant employees for nine months and will try to support these employees finding a new job during this period.
Sources
16 October 2006: Het Financieele Dagblad
14 October 2006: NRC Handelsblad
Citation
Eurofound (2006), Achmea, Internal restructuring in Netherlands, factsheet number 64352, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/64352.
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.
