Employees see remote work as a silver lining for work-life balance; while underwriting leaders say remote positions and job opportunities are the most common requests for underwriting new hires. (Image credit: Alexander Limbach/Shutterstock.com)For the younger generation, the insurance industry is known as one of the oldest and most traditional industries, facing the pressure of transformation. In the wake of the “Great Resignations”, insurers face a bigger talent challenge than before the COVID-19 pandemic.
You see, this manifests itself in the tug-of-war brewing between bosses and employees over office work. In the post-pandemic environment, in insurance and many other industries, we continue to see employees abandon traditional face-to-face work in favor of work-from-home positions that favor a more flexible work environment.
Findings from a survey of insurance talent and technology trends recently commissioned by my firm, Convr, underscore this tug of war. The survey screens a statistically significant sample of insurance underwriting leaders and reconfirms that remote work opportunities are increasingly demanded in the current insurance labor market. Survey data also strongly suggests that if insurance providers improve their technology stacks, they can attract more and better talent; these workers will have a greater ability to work successfully from home.
This is the undeniable future of the insurance labor market. It requires companies to become more flexible and modernize their processes to accommodate an increasing number of remote and hybrid work opportunities, as the demand for these jobs will only increase from here. Employees see remote work as a silver lining for work-life balance; while underwriting leaders say remote positions and job opportunities are the most common requests for underwriting new hires. The current staffing situation is as follows:
- 64% of underwriting leaders say their teams are currently understaffed
- 63% of underwriting leaders are unsure if they are staffed for growth
- 56% of underwriting leaders say more than 20% of their job openings have been open for three months or more
Considering a typical day in the life of a commercial property and casualty (P&C) insurer, it doesn’t take much imagination to understand how many common tasks could be performed better, if not fully automated, with better technological solutions – allowing Employees are satisfied working from home while increasing productivity.
In fact, 78% of underwriting teams say better in-house or outsourced technology prevents employee turnover and allows employees to work longer, and nearly 90% are confident that better technology helps attract young talent. Job satisfaction can only be improved by working remotely, as some commercial P&C insurance managers and above believe that covered employees who only work remotely are less likely to leave their jobs than those who work in the office.
Technology is clearly where underwriting teams are headed today, with nearly 85% of leaders already expecting more of their underwriting work to be automated. A huge driver may be that most underwriting leaders perceive manual data entry, which is at the heart of an underwriter’s job, to be tedious. On any given day, underwriters typically analyze information on insurance applications and other sources, sometimes hours, to gather the data needed to determine risk exposures, appropriate premiums and amounts insured.
Still, many underwriting teams have a long list of open positions. Other industries, such as technology and artificial intelligence (AI), are also in high demand for the quantitative skills needed for underwriting, so carriers continue to work hard to attract and hire a diverse core of young talent. In addition, the young talent pool expects digital technology solutions and tools at their fingertips in the workplace (something that traditional brick-and-mortar insurers and reinsurers do not have).
As it turns out, the industry is not fully meeting the needs of its workers. Despite the numbers above, only 10% of insurance leaders say their teams are trying to attract underwriting talent by offering remote work opportunities. When insurers fail to meet employees’ job expectations, they risk falling further behind — brain drain and widening the gap between qualified candidates and vacancies.
To make matters worse, understaffing and job vacancies are fueling losses. Some 48 percent of underwriting leaders said understaffing had a negative impact on their expense ratios. Nearly 44 percent of commercial property executives also say that understaffing often results in inaccurate quote information. Hiring for the underwriting team is also less optimistic, with just 39% of underwriting leaders very confident they will hit their hiring quota by 2023—a dire number that will keep many up at night this year. One incentive to keep younger workers on the job, at least for a while, is recalibrating how teams work and balancing the dynamics of remote living.
To do this, they must recognize that true transformation requires more than new technology. Insurers, producers and reinsurers need to start shifting their organizational mindset and culture. This is the secret to true competitive advantage. Another powerful option if remote roles are not suitable for your operation is to employ innovative digital solutions.
By 2023, insurers should be prepared to transform their underwriting operations and talent management if they want to remain competitive. More underwriting tasks can be automated. Remote work remains a huge demand for new hires and potential talent. Recent data underscores the significant gap that exists between operational realities and effective talent expectations for technology and automation. Therefore, technology remains key to recruiting and retaining talent.
John Stammen is CEO of Convr, a company revolutionizing the commercial underwriting process using cutting-edge artificial intelligence and decision science. As a company leader, Stammen brings strong critical thinking, vision and strategic planning, as well as the continued value creation of customer success.