Zurich Insurance Company South Africa announces business transformation
Johannesburg, February 08, 2010 – Zurich’s South African General Insurance business has today announced plans to transform its business in order to achieve its future growth aspirations.
Zurich is taking decisive action across all areas of its business to enhance the focus around brokers and customers and improve operational capabilities, so as to strengthen its market position and build a solid operating platform for the future.
Guy Munnoch, CEO of Zurich South Africa, said: “Our strategy is clear – we aspire to be the leading empowered insurer in our chosen markets. We will grow and develop the organisation and to do this, it is essential that we take the necessary actions now to create a solid foundation for the future.”
All core business areas have been reviewed as part of the transformation programme; from processes and technology, through to people and locations. Confirming that Zurich expects to lose between 15% – 20% of roles from the company as a result of this process, Guy Munnoch stated: “these changes are all about right sizing not downsizing our organisation. If we want to be a leader in our chosen markets and create a building block for future growth we must take some early decisions and there are none tougher than those that involve our people. We are focused on getting the right people in the right roles and whilst for some, we appreciate this will be a difficult time, for most it will represent an opportunity to pursue their career aspirations and to be part of an energised and focused organisation. Our main priority now is to support our people over the forthcoming weeks as we go through the consultation period.”
Zurich is now entering into a period of engagement with the relevant employee representative bodies and subject to consultations, aims to finalise the processes impacting on employees by the end of April.
Issued on behalf of
Zurich Insurance Company South Africa Limited
Zurich Financial Services Group (Zurich) is an insurance-based financial services provider with a global network of subsidiaries and offices in North America and Europe as well as in Asia-Pacific, Latin America and other markets. Founded in 1872, the Group is headquartered in Zurich, Switzerland. It employs approximately 60,000 people serving customers in more than 170 countries.
Zurich in South Africa is a short-term insurance company headquartered in Johannesburg and listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange. Founded in 1965, it offers insurance products and services that respond to the needs of individual, commercial and corporate customers. It has a network of sales areas and a series of service outlets across the country, and employs approximately 1,000 people. In addition, it has subsidiaries locally as well as in Botswana and Zimbabwe.
