Insurers actively recruit new talent as tens of thousands near retirement

The Insurance Information Institute (I.I.I.) recently released a new video about people who found fulfilling positions in the industry and will host a free webinar on insurance career opportunities on Wednesday, Feb. 20.

The insurance industry estimated in 2013 it would need to fill 400,000 jobs nationwide by 2020. With record numbers of its employees aging out of the workforce, insurance companies are looking to recruit and hire their successors in all areas, from actuaries and analysts to information technology specialists and marketing experts. February is Insurance Careers Month.

“Insurance is the backbone of the global economy and we need to invoke more pride about how important this industry is to American society and its economy,” said Sean Kevelighan, chief executive officer, I.I.I. “The Insurance Information Institute is making it a priority to engage with college students and young professionals and show them how many opportunities and career paths exist within the insurance industry. Whether the economy is up or down, there will always be a need for insurance.”

The I.I.I.’s new video, “1: Your Career in Insurance,” highlights the unconventional stories of young professionals who are finding their niche in the insurance industry. The video also demonstrates how a new generation can earn, learn and grow in this evolving career field. The U.S. insurance industry employed 2.6 million Americans as of 2016, according to the U.S. Department of Labor.

“In insurance, I get to make communities safer and more resilient every day,” says Amir, one of the voices in the video. She is a young insurance worker who is passionate about volunteerism and wanted a career that could have a positive impact on society.

Meanwhile, Nicole, another featured voice, explains how she dreamed of being an FBI agent as a child, then studied criminology in college and later received a master’s degree in education. Today, she works for an insurance company, where she creates learning programs “to help colleagues grow and develop skills to pursue their own passions,” Nicole says.

The I.I.I.’s one-hour, free Insurance Careers Webinar, to be held on Wednesday, Feb. 20, at noon, EST, is being billed as Recruitment and Retention: Best Practices and Paths Not Taken. Its target audience is college students and young professionals who are weighing a career change.

The webinar’s two panelists are:

• Dr. Steven N. Weisbart, CLU, Chief Economist and Senior Vice President, Research and Education, I.I.I.
• Tony Cañas, CPCU, MBA, Client Advisor, The Jacobson Group, co-founder, Insurance Nerds (InsNerds.com). He is also the co-author of Insuring Tomorrow: Engaging Millennials in the Insurance Industry.

Marguerite Tortorello, Managing Director, #InsuranceCareersMovement, and James Ballot, Senior Advisor, Strategic Communications, I.I.I., will moderate the discussion.

To participate in the webinar, register here.

For more information about insurance careers, visit iii.org and careersinsured.org.