Some North American life insurance companies are pulling out all the stops to attract new employees into their companies in areas ranging from entry-level positions to data scientists, actuaries and business intelligence analysts.
At least one U.S. insurer has tripled its salaries and others are bringing in new incentives like wellness programs and pet insurance to draw in the required talent in what has become an extremely competitive job market.
“I recently spoke to a recruiter for the life insurance industry and he said to me: ‘The war for talent is over. The talent won,’” said Alison Salka, head of research at Connecticut-based LIMRA.
Impact of the pandemic
The dearth of experienced workers stems partly from international “languishing” brought on by COVID-19: not hopelessness or depression, but an aimlessness as the emotional long-haul of the pandemic hit many around the world. Add employee work stress and the fear of (potentially) losing their jobs and many simply decided to take action on their own and left their posts in search of a better future in what has been termed “the great resignation.”
A recent report by CIBC Capital Markets indicates the market in Canada is not as tight as it is in the United States. But Alex Watson, the Canadian Insurance Lead at management technology consultancy Capco, said each organization is going through its own journey.
Watson told a recent LIMRA conference that customers are demanding more from their financial institutions. He suggested that insurers – and other financial institutions – increase their brand strength and create “product-agnostic servicing” that allows them to expand customer value into either new offers or products they hadn’t put as much emphasis on in the past.
“We can’t continue doing the same things that we did before. We have to be creative in order to get people.” - Maude Dumont-Montplaisir
Some areas of the industry may have been hit harder than others. But Maude Dumont-Montplaisir, Senior Director of Employee Experience at iA Financial Group, said it’s difficult to find the right candidates for most jobs right now – everything from IT to compliance, accounting, investments and human resources.
“I would say almost all types of roles are hard to fill right now, but the specialized ones are the hardest,” said Dumont-Montplaisir. “In general there is no one position that I would say ‘it’s really easy to recruit for that.’ HR has also been impacted with the pandemic and recruitment, so people in HR are also in demand.”
Earlier retirements
The shortage began even before the pandemic, but COVID-19 exacerbated issues when people started retiring earlier than had been previously predicted as they questioned themselves about their lives and where they wanted to go career-wise. “The pandemic just accelerated everything,” she said.
Dumont-Montplaisir noted that the search for talent has gone on in many industries, not just insurance, noting low immigration levels in Canada have been part of the issue.
Canada sought to welcome 341,000 new immigrants in 2020 but only managed to admit 184,000 due to coronavirus-related disruptions like travel restrictions since March 2020. Numbers were again down at the beginning of 2021, but have since risen.
But what might be even worse, said Dumont-Montplaisir, is that she is not foreseeing the talent situation getting better in the short run. Now at iA Financial Group, millennials who want autonomy and flexibility are being offered a flexible, hybrid work model to entice them to stay on. As well, they’re checking to see if people who retired early can come back to work part-time, have hired freelancers and continue to partner with universities and other schools to promote the insurance industry.
“We can’t continue doing the same things that we did before. We have to be creative in order to get people.”
Enhanced benefits
Younger generations going into entry level positions at insurers in the U.S. are being offered enhanced benefits, including pet insurance, while at least one insurer tripled its minimum wage to ensure it was attractive to potential employees, said Salka.
Other companies are placing a greater focus on diversity, equity and inclusion to enhance the employee experience.
“The best [insurers] are looking for ways to actually engage their employees, to build a sense of community, despite the fact they’re working remotely and may be on different schedules – how to keep a sense of culture and commitment…so they feel invested with the employer they’re working with,” said Salka.
Employee retention
A survey by Willis Towers Watson also noted that keeping employees is just as challenging as attracting new ones. The report indicates that 61 per cent of North American respondents said they were having a hard time keeping workers and expect the problem to linger well into 2022. This compares with only 15 per cent of employers who reported having difficulty keeping employees in 2020.
A recent report from Lifeworks notes that 18 per cent of those who left their jobs during the pandemic did so because of increased stress and 16 per cent left because they had to assume caregiving responsibilities. On top of that, more than one-third of respondents to the survey are thinking about leaving their jobs, while uncertainty for the future is increasing mental strain.
There’s no doubt, said Salka, that the pandemic has brought together a whole different set of circumstances that no one has seen before. This means insurers will have to reskill or upskill talent especially for those in certain types of jobs like data analytics.
“So there is a talent pipeline that is coming along,” she said. “We are not going to be in this situation forever.