The talent shortage in risk and insurance requires inclusivity and modernization: studies

With baby boomers retiring, the insurance and risk management fields must urgently recruit new professionals, but an ongoing talent shortage suggests that the industry will adjust the ways it attracts, trains, and retains its workforce.

Two recent industry studies illustrate the predicament faced by insurance and risk management. As hiring needs expand, both insurance and risk management need to update their organizations to provide the type of supportive, inclusive, and modernized environments that workers are seeking.

A joint study between Jacobson Group and Aon plc found that 64 percent of surveyed property/casualty insurance firms plan to add staff over the next 12 months. Reasons for increases include expansion into new markets and rises in business volume and revenue, which is balanced by plans to make some staffing cuts due to automation and reorganizations.

The Aon/Jacobson study found technology, claims, and underwriting to be the areas to see the largest growth, but technology needs outstripped all other areas.

Having a plan for the future doesn’t mean smooth sailing, though – companies face “virtually non-existent unemployment” at a time when retirements and increase in need have risen. However, over the last year, the P/C market had similar goals in July 2018, with 63 percent of respondents planning to increase staff and exceeding that goal. Open jobs in the insurance field dropped from 303,000 in 2018 to 256,000 in 2019. Insurers have added 116,100 new jobs since April 2011, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.