Zurich Insurance has been named the first “industry transformer” member in the Group for Autism, Insurance, Investment and Neurodiversity (GAIN).
Industry transformers are tasked with creating a sector-wide transformation by releasing the overwhelmingly untapped pool of talent neurodivergent people bring to the table. This means the insurance giant will be working with GAIN over the next three years to improve the employment prospects of neurodivergent people in insurance, investment and other areas of financial services.
It is reported that as many as one in five in the UK are neurodivergent and live with conditions such as autism, dyslexia, ADHD or dyspraxia.
“There has never been a better time to be more informed about neurodiversity and the huge value to business of recognising and welcoming different ways of thinking and operating,” said Barbara Schonhofer, co-chair of GAIN. “By embracing difference, we better reflect customers and the broader society we serve. We applaud Zurich for becoming our first industry transformer and look forward to welcoming others as they join us to make a radical improvement in the employment prospects of neurodivergent people.”
The GAIN initiative was created in 2020 when it found that only one in six autistic person gets full-time employment – and similar statistics follow for other neurodivergent people. It launched as an industry initiative after it realised that “engendering a change, organically, business by business, would be very slow.”
Zurich Insurance will also seek to bring neurodiversity into the same focus as other, equally important but currently more recognised, forms of diversity and inclusion. According to GAIN, raising the profile of neurodiversity is an important element in achieving ESG, CSR and wider diversity objectives.
Commenting on the recognition, Tim Bailey, chief executive officer of Zurich UK, said: “We’re proud to be a founder member of GAIN. We know that our neurodivergent colleagues within Zurich bring a strong and differentiated skillset. We also know there is more that Zurich and the wider industry can do to make the world of work more accessible to all. Working with GAIN enables us to bring insights from real life experiences alongside a wide range of resources we look forward to drawing on.”
