In short

• The COVID-19 pandemic has exacerbated an already tough insurance job market. The biggest challenge is the shortage of candidates.
• New research by ANZIIF has looked at how employers are attracting and retaining talent. Flexible work is important to two-thirds of employees surveyed.
• Along with compensation, old employees are seeking a challenge as one of their top career priorities.

The COVID-19 pandemic has made it more challenging than ever to attract talent in the insurance industry. With international borders closed, supplies of international talent have been cut off, and many employees have been reluctant to change roles during a time of great uncertainty and upheaval. 

Attracting talent has often been challenging for the insurance industry, so in some ways it is better prepared to overcome today’s stressed job market. With the majority of the workforce falling into their roles by chance rather than design, insurance has long been dubbed an invisible industry, with few people studying insurance or actively seeking out a career in it. 

A candidate’s market

New research by ANZIIF has revealed how employers are attracting and retaining talent in these turbulent times. According to the study, The Ideal Workplace, insurance is swiftly becoming a candidate’s market, with more jobs available than there are candidates to fill them.

Two-thirds of employers have found it difficult to fill roles in 2021 and are reporting a lack of experienced and qualified talent, and that high salary expectations are prevalent. 

Cameron Watson, head of strategy at Fuse Recruitment, agrees with the findings. ‘I’ve been in insurance for 30 years and this is the most challenging employment market I have seen,’ he says. ‘The next 12 to 24 months are going to continue to be incredibly challenging, and it is coming off the back of what has always been a particularly candidate-short market.’

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