The Zodiac calendar might claim that 2022 is the ‘Year of the Tiger’ but it would seem, at least from the perspective of Zurich UK, that in fact, 2022 is the ‘Year of People’. In January, the insurance giant published extensive data revealing the growing demand for part-time roles and how its own flexible working approach is boosting its hiring of part-time staff. Several days later, Zurich became the only insurer to be named among the UK’s best places to work in 2022 by Glassdoor.
While for other companies this focus on employee excellence might comfortably remain an internal drive, for Zurich UK’s head of HR Steve Collinson (pictured) and his team that is simply not enough. Rather, Zurich is calling on the government to legislate for employers over a certain size to make all vacancies available on a part-time, job-share and flexible basis.
“The UK has seen a very significant increase in the number of open vacancies, and the figure now sits at around a million unfilled vacancies,” he said. “The research and work the [Zurich team] has done shows us that only about 26% of organisations refer to flexibility at all in job adverts, let alone go into the stretch degrees that we’ve done. And often for people who need part-time work, it may not be their choice to work part-time, they often have responsibilities which mean it is essential that they are able to do so.”
Zurich’s research highlighted that women applicants, in particular, are less likely to apply for a role if they don’t see attributes in the job advert that resonate with them. With a million unfilled vacancies, Collinson said, and so many people now looking for different type of working environments, industry and government need to work together to bridge that divide – only then can they start to deal with what is being referred to by some media outlets as ‘the great resignation’.
“And only then can we deal with the skill gaps that are emerging in the country,” he said. “That’s why we’ve put that call out there. We think it would be fantastic for the government to think about building a new world of work taskforce, bringing together organisations like CBI, TUC and corporate organisations to solve this challenge together. And we’re just really happy to share our data because we think it’s important.”
Zurich started its flexible working just prior to the impact of COVID and essentially overnight saw the number of applications received for available roles double - whether or not applicants were asking for part-time work. That eventually settled at a 60% increase, Collinson said, but what was really interesting was that people were drawn to the roles not because they necessarily wanted part-time or job-share positions at that point but rather because they were attracted to the flexibility displayed by the insurer.
That public position told them a lot about the culture of the company, he said, and since then the insurer has seen a very significant increase in the proportion of women being appointed, and being appointed to senior roles, and also of men applying to work at Zurich. Another key element of what makes this proposition so attractive is that it allows professionals to think about how their working lives may change in the future.
COVID-19 has caused many more people to start planning for their future of work, and Collinson noted that Zurich saw an 83% increase in women looking for part-time opportunities during COVID. From parenting, to caring responsibilities, to people looking for a healthier work-life balance – the reason why people are taking these opportunities is multi-faceted, but insurance businesses are missing a beat if they don’t cater to that requirement.
“I really believe the insurance industry has an opportunity to lead the way on this,” he said. “I think we’re an industry that has hidden our light, in many senses. If you think about it, there are so many fantastic opportunities within an insurer. It’s not just about insurance underwriting or claims, or risk management, though, of course, those are the core attributes of an insurer. There are also so many other careers that people can have in insurance companies.”
Collinson emphasised that leading the way with a culture that’s more modern, more inclusive and which demonstrates the flexibility that an organisation can offer its people can only be a good thing for UK industry in general. For insurance companies, in particular, however, he believes there is a great opportunity in the UK market right now to be at the very heart of modern thinking.
“I feel confident going forward,” he said. “I think we’ve demonstrated, as an industry, fantastic flexibility and adaptability in the past. The challenge now is for us to work out, in my opinion, how we upskill and reskill to take advantage of the opportunities that are in front of us, and to make sure that we provide long term sustainable employment for our people.”
