“Money, money,” said Daniel Marsh (pictured above).
For a moment, Insurance Business expected Marsh to break into song with his version of the famous ABBA hit (see video below).
In fact, the managing director of Blake Oliver Consulting, an insurance specialist recruitment firm, was making a point about a big recent change in the industry’s recruitment scene.
“Salary increases are the main driver rather than flexibility to work from home for the majority of candidates,” said Marsh.
He said 12 to 18 months ago, working from home and job flexibility were the big motivators for the industry’s job seekers.
“That’s out the window,” said Marsh. “Most candidates now are saying, ‘What’s the salary increase? What can you get me financially.’”
The industry recruitment expert said people are prepared to come back into the office for more money.
“That’s [money’s] what’s really driving the industry right now,” he said. “Everyone’s under pressure with rising interest rates and mortgages being more expensive so if you can increase your bottom line on a base salary, that’s what’s really motivating candidates to move.”
In terms of which insurance jobs are in high demand, Marsh said “broking is the hottest ticket in town at the moment.”
Market-facing insurance brokers with a record generating business, he said, are particularly sought after.
“The good quality technical underwriter is [also] always going to be in demand,” said Marsh.
He said insurance professionals with a sales and client focus also have good prospects. However, back office, technical brokers, he said, are currently less sought after.
Marsh suggested that current market demand for brokers reflects how broking firms are consolidating and growing their businesses. This follows, he said, a period that has seen brokerage mergers and impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic.
IB asked Blake Oliver’s MD how the so-called talent crunch is looking?
“Personally, I don’t think there is a talent crunch,” said Marsh. “From the evidence of looking at my business, I wouldn’t say that’s the case at all.”
However, he said there is still a shortage of new talent because of the industry’s image problem.
“There are always going to be gaps in terms of finding the right candidates for certain jobs,” he said. “[However], we fill over 90% of the jobs that we get which is down to having the right networks and working with people who are supportive.”
Marsh said, much like in many other industries, rising salaries in the insurance sector are still a challenge for employers.
According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), many salaries are going up at unusually high rates. The ABS’s Wage Price Index (WPI) measures changes in the price of labour. In November, an ABS release reported the highest quarterly wage growth “in WPI history.”
“The Wage Price Index (WPI) rose 1.3% in September quarter 2023, and 4.0% for the year,” said an ABS release. “This is the highest quarterly growth in the 26-year history of the WPI.”
The WPI data from across 2023 showed the biggest annual increase for more than 10 years.
“The annual rise, at 4.0%, is the highest annual growth recorded for WPI since March 2009,” said the ABS.
The data showed that the accommodation and food services industry, health care and social assistance sectors saw some of the highest growth rates.
At November’s Seek Annual Recruitment Awards (SARAs) in Melbourne, Blake Oliver won the Innovation in Recruitment prize. This is one of the only times a recruitment firm specialising in insurance has won a Seek award.
The recruitment idea was spearheaded by Marsh’s firm together with the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) and Insurtech Australia.
The initiative involves hosting roundtable lunches where university students can meet senior insurance professionals who showcase industry career options. “What we’re trying to do is educate those students during their time at university so they start thinking about insurance as a career,” said Marsh. “We anticipate that the success rate of students coming into the industry will start to become quite evident in the next year or two.”
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