Aviva announces 2,000 jobs cuts worldwide

British insurer Aviva is to cut as many as 2,000 jobs worldwide in the latest cost-cutting drive aimed at revitalising its flagging fortunes, the company said today.

Chief executive Mark Wilson said the cuts would equate to around 6 per cent of Aviva Group's global workforce over the next six months and reiterated a commitment to deliver more than £400 million in cost savings by year-end.

The jobs cut are not thought to affect the company's Irish arm which is already going through a substantial resutructuring, involving between 500 and 700 redundancies.

The Irish restructuring followed the abandonment of plans to set up a European base for the British business in Ireland.

Aviva, which employs around 31,200 people, has launched a root-and-branch shake-up after years of spiralling costs, disappointing share price performance and an investor revolt that led to the departure of former chief executive Andrew Moss in 2012.

Chairman John McFarlane sought to appease angry investors with a strategic review last July, which called for the sale or closure of more than a dozen underperforming and non-core business units.

Aviva is also overhauling its redundancy policy for all employees on UK contracts. From December, staff will only receive two weeks' pay for each year of service, rather than a current four weeks' pay. Pay will also be capped at 78 weeks.

Mr Wilson, who took the helm in January, slashed the 2012 dividend by more than a quarter in March to repay debt, as the company reported a 15 per cent drop in operating profit to £2.13 billion, broadly in line with forecasts.