The latest iteration of the Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study, conducted by The Jacobson Group, the leading provider of talent to the insurance industry, and Aon plc, a leading global professional services firm providing a broad range of risk, retirement and health solutions, found 91% of respondents intend to maintain or increase staff in 2021.
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“Although the past year has brought on several unique challenges, the insurance industry remains strong,” said Gregory P. Jacobson, co-chief executive officer of Jacobson. “Insurers are more optimistic than they were six months ago and overall, industry staffing plans are not drastically different than prior to the pandemic. While it may be gradual, we can expect insurance employment to continue to rise this year.”
Some of the study’s key findings include the following:
- In the next 12 months, 56% of companies plan to increase staff and 35% plan to maintain their current staff size. Technology, analytics and claims roles are expected to see the greatest growth over the next year.
- While 9% of insurers plan to decrease staff in the next 12 months, this is down from 17% in the July 2020 study. Reorganization is the most common driver behind anticipated staff reductions.
- Sixty-seven percent of insurers expect to grow revenue, up 9 percentage points from six months ago.
- Overall, recruiting difficulty continues; of the 11 functional areas reported on in the study, seven have increased in recruiting difficulty compared to January 2020. Analytics, actuarial and technology roles are currently considered the most difficult to fill.
- If the industry follows through on its plans, we will see a 0.74% increase in employment during the next 12 months.
The insurance labor outlook study has been conducted semi-annually since 2009. Collecting revenue and hiring projections from carriers across all sectors of the industry, it provides a valuable look at the insurance labor market outlook and hiring trends.
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