AEGON today announces plans to make its business in The Netherlands more agile and better positioned to respond to changing conditions and opportunities in the Dutch market.
As a result of these plans, approximately 300 positions will be made redundant. The restructuring of AEGON’s Dutch business is an acceleration of previously announced strategic plans.
“The world around us is changing rapidly,” said Marco Keim, a member of the Management Board and CEO of AEGON The Netherlands. “To effectively respond to these developments, AEGON in the Netherlands must simplify its operations and become a more efficient organization, better able to capture the opportunities arising from changes in the market. Unfortunately, this means that we will need to downsize our workforce.”
The reorganization will inevitably entail forced redundancies. Employees affected will be supported by AEGON according to agreements with the relevant trade unions in the Netherlands.
The costs of the reorganization will total approximately EUR 60 million and are expected to be accounted for before the end of this year. The reorganization program and other initiatives will result in reducing the cost base for AEGON The Netherlands by EUR 100 million, compared to the cost base for 2010. Most of the cost savings are expected to be achieved in 2012.
As required by Dutch law, the restructuring plans have been submitted to the Central Works’ Council for its formal advice, which is expected before the end of the year.