Life and pensions group Standard Life said today it plans to strip another 1,000 jobs from its business over the next two years, Guardian Unlimited reports.
The Edinburgh-based firm, which employs most of its 10,500-strong workforce in the UK, said it was looking to reduce costs by ?100m a year.
It has taken 4,500 roles out of the business since the start of 2004, and unions were disappointed by news of these latest cuts.
"Standard Life are putting profits for their new shareholders before their loyal workforce," said David Fleming, Amicus national officer. "Amicus is seeking recognition at Standard Life with the desire to prevent compulsory redundancies and the terms and conditions of all staff. Amicus has long-standing relationships with many of the top names in the financial services sector and using our vast experience of this highly competitive industry we will support our members during this time of uncertainty".
Standard said it hoped to achieve much of the latest reduction through normal staff turnover, adding that the 1,000 figure was based on its requirements for servicing present, and not future, levels of business.
Around 1,000 Standard Life staff have joined Amicus in recent months and 500 attended meetings organised by Amicus in Edinburgh last Monday, the union said.
Chief executive Sandy Crombie announced the cost-saving plans at the same time as Standard posted annual results at the top end of City expectations.
In its first set of annual results as a listed company, Standard posted operating profits of ?614m, an increase of 55% on a year earlier and much higher than the consensus of ?503m seen beforehand by analysts.
Mr Crombie said the company's pre-flotation strategy of focusing on higher margin and less capital intensive products, such as self-invested personal pensions, had paid off, with strong growth in volumes and profitability.
He added: "Notwithstanding this strong progress, there is more we can do to increase the efficiency of our operations and to deliver further earnings growth and higher returns."
As a result, the company is embarking on the next phase of its "continuous improvement strategy", which Mr Crombie said would deliver a leaner and fitter Standard Life.
The company, which employs around 7,500 people in Edinburgh, said it expected to achieve ?15m of the ?100m savings later this year. A further ?70m will be delivered in 2008, with an additional ?15m in 2009.
Mr Crombie said: "Through efficiency and productivity we can achieve a reduction in the underlying headcount requirement to service our existing levels of business by around 1,000 by 2009."
UBS analyst Roger Hill said the cost-cutting measures should put Standard Life "firmly on track" to hit its profits targets for 2007.