Nearly 2,000 people who work for Admiral in Swansea still do not know whether their jobs are among the 500 the insurer plans to cut.
Swansea Council leader Rob Stewart has written to Alistair Hargreaves, chief executive of Admiral’s UK insurance business, seeking “urgent clarification” of what the cuts mean for the city.
The Welsh Government does not know yet either.
Adam Price, the economy minister, told the Senedd on Wednesday: “We don’t know currently how these redundancies will be apportioned across the individual sites.”
Admiral job cuts: 500 roles, £100m savings, no sites named
Admiral announced on 23 September that it plans to cut about 500 roles from its UK insurance business, around 5% of the workforce, as part of a drive to save £100m.
It employs nearly 10,000 people in the UK, most of them in Cardiff, and just under 2,000 at Admiral Group House in SA1.
Admiral says it is too early to say whether the cuts will be voluntary or compulsory. A 45-day consultation with staff is under way.
Council leader writes to Admiral UK boss Alistair Hargreaves
Cllr Stewart told Thursday’s full council meeting it was “still unclear at the present time” what the impact would be for staff in the Swansea office.
He said his letter also asks about Swansea people who work at Admiral’s Cardiff headquarters.
He has also asked the Welsh Government, with colleagues, to make ReAct+, its scheme that pays for retraining and helps people back into work after redundancy, available to anyone affected.
“I’m sure we send the staff of Admiral our very best in terms of what may be ahead of them,” he said.
‘These lay-offs are completely optional’, Gŵyr Abertawe MS Gwyn Williams tells the Senedd
Gwyn Williams, Plaid Cymru MS for Gŵyr Abertawe, told the chamber the announcement had been “devastating for our own communities”.
“We’ve had many e-mails about this,” he said. “In fact, one came just in the time that we’ve been sitting here in Plenary.”
He said Admiral, Wales’ only FTSE 100 company, recorded a £958m profit last year. “It is my view, and the view of my fellow MSs, that these lay-offs are completely optional,” he said.
The economic situation in his constituency was “fragile, to say the most favourable thing”, he said, and the cuts would be “a disproportionate hit on the economy of Gŵyr Abertawe”.
It is the second time since July he has taken big Swansea job losses to the Senedd, after Swansea Bay health board’s plan to cut around 800 posts.
Caerdydd Penarth MS Kiera Marshall, also Plaid Cymru, said colleagues in Gŵyr Abertawe and Brycheiniog Tawe Nedd had shared their concerns about Swansea. “Workers need certainty about their futures and how they’re going to support their families and pay ever-increasing bills and rent,” she said.
Economy minister to meet Admiral chief executive
Mr Price told MSs he was meeting Admiral UK Insurance’s chief executive on Thursday, and had reached out to unions and workforce representatives.
He promised to share what he learned with members who have large numbers of constituents working for the company, once the picture is clearer.
Labour MS Huw Thomas, who asked the question, said he and Cardiff’s four MPs had met Admiral and Legal & General, which is also cutting jobs, “to press both companies to minimise compulsory redundancies and maximise redeployment opportunities”.
Admiral says job cuts are not about AI
Reform UK MS Jason O’Connell asked what part artificial intelligence had played. Mr Price said Admiral had said the reductions “are not AI related”.
Admiral says the changes are about having “the right structure, skills and ways of working to meet evolving customer needs”, and making the business “faster and more efficient”.
“We recognise this will be a difficult time for affected colleagues and our immediate priority is to support those impacted colleagues, including exploring redeployment opportunities wherever possible,” Mr Hargreaves said.
Admiral says staff who lose their jobs will be offered enhanced redundancy pay, help to find work, up to £5,000 towards qualifications and up to £10,000 to start their own business.
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