Insurance carrier employment expectations have remained stable in the past year, and the latest
The semi-annual study, conducted by The Jacobson Group and Aon, investigated hiring trends within the insurance sector and found that roles in technology, underwriting and claims are expected to have the greatest growth over the next year.
"Employment expectations remain relatively similar to last year," said Jeffrey Blair, senior vice president of executive search and business development at The Jacobson Group in the press release. "Despite a slight spike in the industry's unemployment rate, turnover has slowed since last January and carriers continue to anticipate moderate growth as they move through the next 12 months."
The average six month voluntary turnover rate is almost 6%, nearly three percentage points lower than the 12 month average, and the average six month involuntary turnover rate is also lower by about one point. Of those surveyed, 12% reported plans to decrease the number of employees, which increased 2% from January 2024. Reorganization was cited as the most common reason for companies to reduce the number of employees over the next 12 months, followed by automation and overstaffed departments.
"More companies expect to focus recruiting efforts on experienced staff, rather than hiring entry-level positions," commented Jeff Rieder, partner and head of strategy and technology group performance benchmarking at Aon, in the release. "It remains critical for organizations to maintain strong career development and competitive compensation programs to retain and develop talent."
The main reason cited for companies to hire more staff this year is an expected increase in business volume at 39%, followed by the potential expansion of business or new markets at 34%.
While 55% of companies plan to increase staff, especially in the life and health segments, 14% of respondents said that the ability to hire talent has become more difficult compared to last year. This increased by three percentage points from the July 2024 survey. Actuarial, executive and analytics roles are the most difficult to fill according to respondents, and positions in loss control, actuarial, product management and accounting are the departments that are more likely to hire experienced staff.
