"All parties involved are united in their desire to make German life insurance business and property/casualty business more competitive on a sustainable basis. The planned personnel reductions are unfortunately unavoidable in this context. Working in concert with the employee representatives we shall now strive to find a means of implementation that is as socially responsible as possible", Dr Jan Wicke, Chief Executive Officer of Talanx Deutschland AG and a member of the Board of Management of Talanx AG, explained.
The negotiations revolve around the reduction of some 600 full-time equivalents in total by 2020, primarily at HDI Kundenservice AG. This does not yet take into account the necessary job cuts at HDI Vertriebs AG, which will be determined in the first quarter of the coming year. The Retail Germany division employs around 5,000 staff. The discussions are expected to produce initial results in early summer 2016.
When presenting the business results for the first nine months of 2015 Talanx had already announced organisational, personnel and IT-related restructuring measures in the division. Altogether, an after-tax expense of roughly EUR 70 million is estimated in this regard for 2016. The planned measures form part of an extensive investment, growth and cost programme in the German retail business transacted by Talanx. Significantly increased efficiency through systematic automation and digitisation of business processes is at the heart of the planned measures.
Disclaimer
This news release contains forward-looking statements which are based on certain assumptions, expectations and opinions of the Talanx AG management. These statements are, therefore, subject to certain known or unknown risks and uncertainties. A variety of factors, many of which are beyond Talanx AG’s control, affect Talanx AG’s business activities, business strategy, results, performance and achievements. Should one or more of these factors or risks or uncertainties materialise, actual results, performance or achievements of Talanx AG may vary materially from those expressed or implied in the relevant forward-looking statement. Talanx AG does not guarantee that the assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements are free from errors nor does Talanx AG accept any responsibility for the actual occurrence of the forecasted developments. Talanx AG neither intends, nor assumes any obligation, to update or revise these forward-looking statements in light of developments which differ from those anticipated.