Wanted: Young Insurance Recruiters

Insurance industry executives and groups working to attract millennials to the sector are now actively targeting their younger colleagues to help get the word out.

On Dec. 2, the recruiting initiative held a webinar designed to appeal to younger property/casualty insurance employees to raise awareness of the industry and help recruit new applicants. According to organizers, close to 2,000 people took part in the webinar, with millennials and others logging in from the United States, U.K., Turkey, Switzerland, Mexico, Ireland, India, France, Canada and Bermuda.

The younger employees who tuned in represented 107 different companies and organizations, according to a spokesperson.

Hamilton Insurance Group Chairman and CEO Brian Duperreault hosted the town hall-style webinar. He told his employees afterward that the event was “unprecedented,” unlike any he had seen in his 40-year career, the spokesperson said.

The event was designed to engage and encourage young insurance professionals already in the industry to take part in what is called the Insurance Careers Movement. The idea is to have these young professionals spread the word about industry career opportunities, under the belief that folks already in the industry are the best people to help recruit new talent.

The idea seems to support what young agents revealed in Insurance Journal’s 2016 Young Agents Survey in April.

According to the exclusive Young Agents survey, 81.6 percent of young independent agents, or those 40 and under, say they would recommend a career in insurance to another young person. In fact, optimism is higher today among young insurance agents than in the recent past, the survey found. The aging of the insurance industry is one reason young professionals see a bright and secure future career.

The quest to more heavily recruit younger employees into the P/C industry is driven, in part, by statistics that show there will be 400,000 positions becoming vacant within four years. Organizers of the Insurance Careers Movement also say the sector has not been very diverse and members of the industry have struggled to recruit among high school and university students.

The Institutes, MyPath, Valen Analytics, The Jacobson Group, InVEST and Property Casualty Insurers of America Association are among the organizations involved in the project.

Overall, the Insurance Careers Movement includes more than 600 insurance carriers, agents/brokers, trade associations and industry partners.

Topics Agencies Market