Norwich Union is to slash 1100 full-time jobs and almost 600 contractor positions in its UK life operations.
The job cuts follow a three-year project at Norwich Union Life to simplify its operations and improve efficiency.
"As this work nears completion the number of roles in the business will reduce," says the company in a statement. "The majority of these roles are in business change and IT. The remainder are spread across other areas of the business, which will be reducing in size to reflect the simplified organisation."
The company says there will be a reduction of 1100 permanent roles by the end of 2009, "though the impact on staff will be minimised by natural turnover and redeployment".
The firm says it expects about 800 permanent employees will be made redundant.
In addition, 590 contract positions will be closed over the next few months.