Insurance industry recruitment experts say the job market has changed quite dramatically in recent months. Brokers are still in high demand but the bargaining power has shifted from the interview candidates to the firms doing the recruiting.
“It's really changed,” said Nathan Anning (pictured). “What I mean by that is, a year ago, you could have candidates who are interviewing with five to six firms, getting five to six offers and then choosing which firm is right for them.”
Brisbane-based Anning is director of national insurance focused recruitment firm Impact Talent AU.
“The power has shifted now to the businesses that are hiring,” he said. “They're being a lot more selective around people that they're interviewing and therefore who they're actually bringing into their teams.”
However, he said demand for brokers is very high right now.
“Brokers are definitely the most in demand [job] at the moment,” said Anning.
Claims people are also very sought after.
“We speak with multiple businesses every single day and every single business says we need more brokers due to growth - a lot of brokerage’s growth strategies are through acquisition,” he said.
Anning said some recent brokerage acquisitions have involved a merging of company cultures that haven’t aligned and, as a result, these firms have lost employees.
“So they’re trying to backfill those,” said Anning.
This has also created, he said, a somewhat desperate search for staff that has driven brokers’ salaries up in recent years.
“In some instances, candidates had their five to six offers on the table and it sometimes became a bit of a bidding war,” said Anning.
The recruitment expert said brokers and other insurance professionals are also looking for different things in a new job compared to 12 months ago.
He said he tested this shift by doing a poll on LinkedIn.
“12 months ago, I think career progression and working from home were really important, or one of the main motivators for people,” said Anning. “They are still very important but I think the driving factor right now is around that salary piece and company culture.”
He said one reason for this change is that much of the industry now expects to allow staff to work from home for some of the time, or at least have work flexibility. There’s no longer a need, he said, to push for that during an interview.
“Then I think the salary piece is just due to that increased cost-of-living,” said Anning. “People need more money.”
Brokers and insurance professionals are suffering from the same tough economy as their customers.
Anning said that one reason insurance firms are being more selective is that during the COVID-19 pandemic they were too ready to quickly bring on staff by offering big salaries. He suggested that strategy came back to bite them through unsuitable candidates and increasing costs.
However, Anning hastened to add that the more choosey approach to interview candidates by insurance firms doesn’t mean they’re awash with interview options or that the talent crunch is over.
“No, there's still absolutely a talent crunch,” he said. “You've got your aging workforce.”
Reports suggest a large proportion of the industry’s workforce is due to retire in the next five years.
According to industry stakeholders, the global insurance industry, including in Australia, is facing a very serious talent shortage.
“The insurance industry faces a looming talent shortage, with an ageing workforce and limited interest among younger generations,” said a recent blog by management consultancy Alchemy London Market.
Insurance Business asked how he’d advise a brokerage or insurance firm to approach the current job market?
“It’s about educating them [insurance firms] on being flexible,” said Anning. “People are expecting hybrid working arrangements of some degree, even if it's just one day from home, so being open to that.”
“You have all of these people who've worked in insurance for a long time that might be working in regional towns where there are not a lot of businesses,” he said. “So tapping into that talent is beneficial.”
“It's not something that's discussed as a career choice at school,” he said. “So hiring rookies that want to get into the industry and investing time in their training because they'll be young and they'll be hungry and want to grow their career,” he said.
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