Human Resources and Skills Development Canada is projecting that certain occupations, including insurance sales agents and brokers, will see a shortage of workers by 2020.
“For insurance and real estate sales occupations and buyers, over the 2011-20 period, job openings (arising from expansion demand and replacement demand) are expected to total 82,920 and 54,212 job seekers (arising from school leavers, immigration and mobility) are expected to be available to fill the job openings,” the government reports.
“Based on projections and considering that labour supply and demand in this occupation were balanced, this occupation is headed toward excess demand. In other words, the number of job seekers will be insufficient to fill the job openings in this occupation over the 2011-2020 period.”
The study observes that the median age of workers in this group, which includes insurance brokers, real estate agents, retail and wholesale buyers and grain elevator operators, is 45.3 years old. The average retirement age in this group is 63 years old.
The odd collection of occupational groups in this category may have some brokers raising their eyebrows about the projections. And in fact, some brokers report that they have not had extraordinary difficulty finding talent in the current labour pool to meet their needs.
“Our office has had good luck in the past recruiting new employees, both with and without insurance experience,” said Derek MacMillan of HWC Insurance.
The Insurance Institute of Canada recently took a look at workplace demographics more specifically within the property and casualty insurance industry in Canada.
Its findings confirmed that there will be job openings due to retirement and that there will a shortfall in recruitment to fill those roles, at the current recruitment and replacement levels.
“The demographic research strongly recommends active recruitment and retention plans be implemented to compensate for the impact retirement will have on the industry,” said Margaret Parent, director of the professionals' division of The CIP Society + Career Connections.
For example, at 43%, the proportion of brokers aged 46 to 65 in 2012 was higher than in the rest of the property and casualty insurance industry (37%). The median retirement age for brokers in Ontario is 60.
This does not appear to bode well when only three brokers are being recruited for every 10 brokers eligible to retire (55+).
