The insurance industry faces a real and immediate talent crisis. Annually, four million Baby Boomers retire nationwide. Within insurance, nearly 50 percent of the workforce will be retired by 2034. At this rate, the industry will need to fill 400,000 positions by 2020 in order to remain fully staffed. Unfortunately, less than one in ten young professionals are interested in working in insurance.
To combat this growing talent gap, Jacobson and a number of industry organizations launched the Insurance Careers Movement (ICM). This grassroots movement is aimed at collectively spreading the word of insurance as the career trifecta—stable, rewarding and limitless. Dedicated to engaging, educating and enlisting the best and brightest emerging talent to the industry, ICM continues to raise awareness of insurance as a desirable career choice. Already, we have helped to grow this movement to more than 800 insurance carriers, agents/brokers, trade associations and industry partners worldwide.
This February marks the third Annual Insurance Careers Month. Designed to encourage outreach to young professionals, Insurance Careers Month is a key cross-industry ICM initiative.
Is your organization ready to make an impact? It’s not too late to join the movement! Here are some top ways to get involved in this year’s Insurance Careers Month:
- Promote your organization – and the industry: Career fairs, career days and local job fairs offer great opportunities to expose students and recent graduates to the insurance industry. Your presence at these events can help teach emerging talent about insurance and introduce them to careers in the industry. It also provides your organization access to a large pool of candidates who are interested in internship and entry-level positions. Make sure to check out InVEST for career fair resources.
- Be present: Give emerging talent a first-hand look at everyday activities in the industry. Explore opportunities to volunteer in the classroom or allow students to job shadow. By encouraging exposure to industry jobs and careers, your organization can introduce the next generation to the realities of today’s workplace. This also provides the opportunity to share the message of insurance as an exciting and rewarding industry. InVEST provides a number of resources to jump-start these learning initiatives.
Host a speed networking event: Networking is a great way to get in front of potential candidates. Speed networking is uniquely designed to build relationships with an array of professionals in a short amount of time. Pair up with a local university or young professional group to connect with interested individuals and host an event. Encourage current employees to participate and help expand awareness of the many opportunities in the industry.
- Connect the dots: How can an engineering background be used in insurance? Is finance and accounting relevant to the industry? Many of today’s students and young professionals are unaware of the ways their college focus can intersect with the industry. Fortunately, there is more to the insurance industry than meets the eye. With limitless opportunities, insurance offers a career path for virtually every major. Education efforts will be critical to sharing this message with the next generation. Resources like MyPath are helping point emerging talent in the right direction and sharing how their skills fit into the industry.
- Be a storyteller: Your current young professionals are an exceptional resource to promote and highlight insurance career opportunities. Take advantage of their insights and encourage them to reach out to other emerging professionals. Provide forums and outlets to share their own stories of success. Promote these stories on your website and social media pages. Make sure to utilize the ICM hashtags—including #InsuranceCareersMonth, #ICM and #CareerTrifecta—to amplify your message.
Only by working together can the insurance industry combat the impending skills gap. Isn’t it time you got involved in this critical industry-wide campaign? Learn more today!