Good Jobs are Hard to Fill

Are you planning on hiring more employees for your insurance company this year?

If so, you’re definitely not alone: a February 27 InsuranceJournal.com article reported that, according to the most recent Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Outlook Study (conducted by The Jacobson Group and Ward Group), more than 50 percent of all U.S. insurance companies planned to increase their staff numbers this year.

The report also noted that filling the “most in-demand positions may prove difficult.”

The survey found that almost 62 percent – the highest rate ever in the survey’s history – of those companies that responded to the survey said they planned to hire more people in 2014.

Four percent of respondents said they would decrease the number of staff members within the next year (12 months).

The study added that 26,400 jobs have been added by insurance companies nationwide since April 2011.

Insurance companies may have a hard time filling positions, however, because people aren’t looking for jobs within the industry, according to one of the survey’s principals.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics reports that unemployment within the insurance industry is just at two percent, while the overall unemployment rate in the country is at 6.7 percent. The insurance industry, therefore, is outperforming the country as a whole as it pertains to job growth.

Insurance companies also said they expect to make more money this year. The survey reports that more than 87 percent (87.3 percent) of respondents said they expected to see an increase in their revenue during the next 12 months.

Just 3 percent of P/C companies expected to see a decrease in their revenue.

The article quotes Gregory P. Jacobson, co-chief executive officer of the Jacobson Group (one of the survey’s authors), as saying he expects the “war for talent” to become “very, very hot” because of the “diminishing unemployment rate” as well as the “severe skills gap” within the entire insurance sector. Jacobson also noted that companies already “are struggling” to fill open positions with experienced professionals.  

If you’re looking for a skilled and experienced insurance professional for one of those hard-to-fill positions, contact the recruiters at Insurance Relief™. We constantly recruit reliable and practiced insurance professionals and we can place people to fill your open positions quickly. We look forward to hearing from you.