An estimated 50% of the current insurance workforce is set to retire by 2035, including a significant proportion of underwriters. This would be challenging for the industry even with a robust pipeline of replacement workers - but a 2021 report found that less than 25% of current insurance workers are under 35.
So what can carriers do to defuse the time bomb of underwriter retirement, and attract the top young talent they need? Here’s 3 big things carriers can do today to start building tomorrow’s underwriting workforce.
Nobody likes using outdated systems that slow down their workflow, but younger people have particularly low tolerance for old tech. Millennials and Gen Z have grown up with fast, easy-to-use personal technology, and they expect the same from their business systems.
So what does that look like for insurance?
The upcoming retirement wave means that insurers will face significant competition in signing promising new underwriting talent in the years ahead. One of the biggest things a carrier can do to differentiate themselves to top candidates is to have a modernized tech stack in place, with cutting-edge tools that help underwriters do their best work.
Before a carrier can sign strong underwriting candidates, however, they need those candidates to apply in the first place. The perception that the insurance industry is slow and old-fashioned is one of the things keeping younger talent out of the industry. Which brings us to…
Even the biggest advocates for the insurance industry have to admit: it’s not glamorous. And despite providing critical protection to individuals and businesses alike, insurance has a comparatively low profile, which can make it hard to even reach young people in the first place. In a survey by The Institutes, 8 out of 10 Millennials said they were not familiar with insurance as an industry, and only 5% of students were “very interested” in working in the field.
This disconnect between insurers and young talent is obviously a problem for recruiting. The good news is that carriers have a big opportunity to bridge the gap with more proactive outreach and education. If many students are unaware of underwriting as a career option, then reaching out to schools at both the high school and college level can help create a pipeline of young people interested in the field.
Classroom presentations can help educate on what it is that underwriters actually do, and why that work is important. With Gen Z increasingly looking for purpose-driven careers, building understanding on how insurance benefits the world around them - particularly as climate change creates unprecedented risks - is key to developing interest in joining the industry.
Student outreach can also provide a vital roadmap on how to become an underwriter in the first place, including recommendations on majors and courses that best develop skills the carriers are looking for. With a clear career path in front of them - and maybe the possibility of an internship - students will have an easier time envisioning a future for themselves in underwriting.
Workers of all ages expect more flexibility in the post-Covid era, and younger people are no exception. What’s more, many Gen Z workers are starting their careers without ever experiencing the pre-pandemic “normal” of commuting every day to an office.
In a recent Deloitte survey of Millennials and Gen Z, both groups emphasized wanting to have “full choice” in where they work. Separate surveys found that two-thirds of students were more likely to apply for jobs that offered flexible schedules, and that most wanted the option for a mix of remote and in-person work. If carriers want to attract younger workers into underwriting and other roles, it’s a good idea to avoid being too prescriptive on when and where that work gets done.
While young workers want control over how they work, they don’t want to do that work alone. Especially for the youngest workers, connection to more experienced peers is crucial. 84% of Gen Z workers told Adobe that a workplace mentor is critical for their career - but only half actually had one.
This is a big opportunity for carriers, especially if they can build off the outreach efforts we talked about in the previous section to foster deep connections between current employees and potential candidates. By ensuring new hires are connected with experienced mentors and development resources, regardless of where they work, carriers can help set young underwriters up for success - and increase their appeal as an employer.
The underwriter retirement wave is coming, but carriers don’t have to be caught flat-footed. By investing in modern underwriting technology, building outreach connections to schools, and creating a flexible but supportive work environment, carriers can start cultivating a new pipeline of underwriting talent, and position themselves as attractive employers to the next generation of workers.
Federato’s RiskOps platform delivers a sleek, modern underwriting experience combining a unified workflow with real-time risk data and bleeding-edge AI to proactively balance a portfolio. To learn more, get a demo today.
