Claims Roles Still in High Demand for Insurers: Jacobson, Aon-Ward

Eighty-six percent of insurance companies plan to either increase (52%) or maintain (34%) staff, according to the Q3 Insurance Labor Market study by The Jacobson Group and Aon-Ward—and for the first time in the study’s history, technology is not the area most in demand overall. The insurance industry’s greatest need is underwriting, followed by claims, and then technology staff, the report states. 

Staffing Needs by Function

Large companies are most likely to hire underwriting roles in the next 12 months, followed by technology and claims. Medium-sized companies are looking toward analytics then technology, while small-sized companies have the greatest need in claims, followed by underwriting.

The industry overall is most likely to hire 21% entry-level employees, 77% experienced employees, and 2% management executive roles. When it comes to claims, 38% of roles filled will be entry-level, 61% will be experienced, and 2% will be management/executive roles, according to the study.

Staffing Plans 

As mentioned, 86% of companies plan to increase or maintain staff, down from last year’s Q3 2023 study in which 90% planned to increase or maintain staff, with 63% of insurers planning to increase staff and 27% planning to maintain. Further, more companies (14%) plan to decrease staff, up from 10% at the same time last year. The two most common reasons to increase staff during the next 12 months are due to “anticipated increase in business volume” and “expansion of business/new markets” both at 38%, while the biggest reason to decrease staff over the next 12 months is due to automation improvement requiring fewer staff.

Company Size

Overall staffing expectations remained the same as reported in January at 52%, states the report.

Sixty-four percent of small companies plan to add staff during the next 12 months, compared to 51% in January. “This is 12 and 23 points higher than medium-sized and large companies, respectively,” states the report.

“Medium-sized companies slightly decreased their 12-month expectations from 53% in January to 52% in July. Large companies decreased from 53% to 41%,” the report explains.

Industry

In the property/casualty (P&C) industry, 65% companies planned to increase staff in July 2023, while only 59% did. Twenty-five percent planned to maintain their current size, while 22% maintained their current size in actuality. Meanwhile, only 10% planned to decrease their staff in July 2023, but 19% ended up decreasing staff.

“[Sixty percent] of balanced lines P&C companies are expecting to increase staff during the next 12 months,” states the report. “This is 39 and points higher than personal lines and commercial lines P&C companies, respectively.” However, according to the report, overall, “43% of personal lines P&C companies are expecting to decrease staff during the next 12 months, [while] 36% expect a decrease of less than 2%.”

Meanwhile, in the life/health (L/H) industry, companies planned to increase staff by 56% in July 2023 but ended up increasing by 69%, while 33% planned to maintain their current size but only 19% did. Eleven percent planned to decrease their staff and 13% decreased staff.  

Revenue

Most companies (79%) expect an increase in revenue growth, “up [two] points from the January survey and up [seven] points from the July 2023 outlook,” the report states. Eighteen percent expect flat growth, while only 3% expect a decrease in revenue, up one point from January.

“At 52%, the primary driver for expected revenue changes will be an increase in market share,” the report states. “Of the companies who plan to add staff during the next 12 months, 91% expect an increase in revenue with 62% responding that it will be due to a change in market share. Of those planning a decrease in staff, 13% of companies expect a decrease in revenue.”

Likewise, 68% of companies planning to maintain staff during the next 12 months are expecting an increase in revenue, while 3% are anticipating a decrease.

Fifty-four percent of small companies and 42% of large companies expect growth in revenue/premium greater than 10% over the next 12 months,” states the report. “This compares to 21% for medium-sized companies.”

Recruiting

“On a scale of 1-10 (10 being most difficult), companies responded that most positions are at least moderately difficult to fill,” according to the report. “Compared to Jul 2023, recruiting difficulty has eased in [eight] of 11 categories.”

The most difficult roles to fill are actuarial, followed by executives and analytics. The easiest roles to fill, on the other hand, are operations, sales/marketing, and compliance.

“In total, 11% of companies feel the ability to hire talent has become more difficult compared to the prior year, according to the report. “This is down from 17% in July 2023. [Thirty-two percent] feel hiring difficulty has eased in the past year.”

Twelve percent of Life/Health companies feel the ability to hire has worsened, compared to P&C companies at 11%. When it comes to company size, 14% of medium-sized companies feel it has become more difficult to hire talent, compared to large and small companies at 12% and 8%, respectively.

Voluntary vs. Involuntary Turnover

“At 8.6%, 12-month voluntary turnover is 1.7 points lower than July 2023,” notes the report. “This is slightly higher than the change in 6-month voluntary turnover, which was down 1.4 points.” Twelve-month involuntary turnover, however, is slightly lower than July 2023, at 3.5% compared to 3.7%.

Within the P/C industry specifically, “personal lines companies had the highest 12-month voluntary turnover at 11.6%, compared to balanced lines and commercial lines at 9.3% and 7.4%, respectively.” Compared to P/C companies, Life/Health companies had higher voluntary turnover percentages but lower involuntary turnover numbers.

Lastly, compared to small and large companies, “medium-sized companies reported the highest 12-month voluntary and involuntary turnover percentage.”

Workplace Flexibility

Currently, 86% of workplaces offer flexible hours, while 14% do not. “During the next [six] months, 76% of companies are expecting most employees in-office at least [one] day per week, down from 82% in January. [Seventy-two percent] have a hybrid model compared to 76% in January,” states the report. “[Seventy-three] of Life/Health companies and 78% of P&C companies expect most employees to come in at least once per week.” Commercial lines P&C companies are most likely to have the majority of employees working remotely full time at 30%, compared to balanced lines and personal lines companies at 10% and 7%, respectively.

Furthermore, hybrid staffing models are most common for large companies (76%) followed by small (71%) and medium-sized (69%). Only 4% of companies require employees to come in-office every day, down from 6% in January.

“After the next [six] months, 94% of companies expect no changes to in-office requirements. [Six percent] anticipate requiring employees to come in more.” Thirteen percent of small companies expect employees to be required in the office more after six months, compared to large companies at two percent. Medium companies, however, anticipate no changes. Within P&C, personal lines companies are most likely to require employees in the office more after six months, at 14% compared to 7% for commercial lines, while balanced lines expect no changes. All in all, no companies expect employees to be in the office less after six months.