Zurich Insurance has announced a reorganisation that will cut about 800 staff from its global workforce of 55,000.

Details are still being finalised and there is no indication whether operations in Australia and New Zealand will be affected, a Zurich Australia spokesman told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

The restructure will remove management layers as Zurich works to increase profitability. 

CEO Martin Senn says the change will bring savings of $US250 million ($278.87 million) a year, but “customer-facing activities will not be impacted”.

The group strategy until 2016 is to focus on markets and customer segments with strong growth potential, Mr Senn and Chairman Tom de Swaan say in the annual report released last week.

Such segments include corporate business and North American commercial insurance.

Other businesses will be managed for value, which means maximising returns in smaller markets and turning around or quitting underperforming businesses.