Legal & General stock falls as 1,000 job cuts target 2027

Legal & General stock (ISIN GB0005603997) was quoted at 296.10p on the London Stock Exchange on September 23, 2026, down 2.50p or 0.84 percent. The insurer and asset manager is planning to reduce its workforce by about 1,000 roles by mid-2027.

Cost cuts target 10 percent

According to Reuters on September 23, 2026, Legal & General plans to cut staff numbers by about 10 percent, equivalent to around 1,000 jobs, by the middle of 2027. The programme will begin on a voluntary basis, although compulsory redundancies have not been ruled out.

The planned reduction is part of a simplification drive under chief executive António Simões. Asset management is excluded from the cuts after its restructuring in 2025, leaving the workforce measure concentrated in other parts of the group.

Shares remain up 13 percent

Reuters reported on September 23, 2026, that Legal & General shares had risen 13 percent since the start of 2026 but had underperformed rivals such as Aviva and the wider market over recent years. That comparison gives the workforce action a dual meaning: it is intended to reduce complexity while also addressing a longer record of relative share-price performance.

AJ Bell data showed a sell price of 296.10p and a buy price of 296.30p on September 23, 2026, with volume of 16,062,827 shares and market capitalization of GBP 15.99 billion. The page also reported a year low of 217.20p and a dividend yield of 7.33 percent.

Price remains below the session high

Legal & General traded between the quoted sell price of 296.10p and the intraday high of 301.40p in the September 23, 2026 market snapshot. The gap between those values shows that the workforce announcement arrived while the share price was below the day's recorded high, although the available quotation does not establish a separate causal market reaction.

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