Insurers warned to invest in talent to manage ‘great resignation’

The insurance industry has had an issue with attracting younger people for some time—and that could now hurt the industry amid a so-called “great resignation”. Perhaps ironically, soaring inflation may help the industry with talent acquisition and retention, but that may take some time to manifest.

That is the view of Gill White (pictured), chief customer officer, Chartered Insurance Institute (CII), commenting in part on a report published in August by the body based on a poll of 623 insurance professionals.

The survey revealed that 44 percent of firms are mainly focusing on offering flexible working in a bid to attract and retain talent, 23 percent are focused on clear routes for career progression and 22 percent said they were mainly investing in training and development.

“Organisations are having to work hard to retain and attract talent. In order to achieve this firms are deploying a variety of solutions from pay rises and offering flexible roles and working patterns to structured training and development. They are focusing on upskilling existing employees rather than fight to fill new roles as often,” White said.

The “great resignation” refers to the phenomenon of people revaluating their careers and work-life balance during and post the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly two million UK adults left their jobs since the first wave of the pandemic, according to a study by VMA Group. Another survey by PwC of 52,000 workers in May concluded that the “great resignation” was set to continue. Almost a fifth of UK workers have said they expect to leave their current job for a new employer in the next 12 months.

This means that insurers, already struggling to attract younger talent, need to consider how to stem the tide.

“Much more needs to be done to educate young people about the huge benefits and advantages of having a career in insurance—the diversity of roles; the ability to travel the world; the excellent remuneration and benefits packages,” White said.

“The profession, trade bodies and ourselves all need to work together and do a much better job of getting people excited about this profession. Right now, insurers need to continue to invest in their people’s development, and ensure they have the flexibility they seek in their working patterns and pay what they can afford to retain employees.”

White said the soaring cost of living should eventually help improve this situation for insurers. But any such impact might not manifest for some time. “Ironically, inflation may improve these issues, but it will take some time. Unemployment is a lagging indicator so the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development anticipates that unemployment will start to rise in mid-2023, as a result of inflation causing businesses to fail.

“However, because there are so many vacancies, it will take some time before the impact of rising unemployment starts to have an effect. Those initially made redundant due to inflationary pressures should be able to quickly become re-employed,” she concluded.