Why Remote Hires Can Be Your Agency’s Best Recruiting Solution

Before I make my case about the value of remote hires, it’s important to acknowledge the reasons agencies, large and small, tell me they don’t want to hire remote employees.

1. “I had a bad experience.”
2. “Remote employees don’t perform as well.”
3. “I can’t train remotely.”
4. “I have to pay more to adjust to their cost of living.”
5. “They are too far away to attend client meetings.”
6. “Remote employees don’t work as hard.”
7. “We don’t promote remote employees.”
8. “If we allow a new hire to work remotely, then everyone will want to.”

Remote hiring isn’t 100% perfect, but then again neither are in-office hires. The reality of the insurance job market is that it’s hard to find experienced insurance talent. The more expertise and specialization you need, the best option is remote.

Reason #1: Access to Top Talent

One of my clients has been searching for a commercial account executive for over 90 days in a mid-sized city with limited talent at this level. After such a prolonged search, they face a choice: keep waiting, overpay, lower their expectations, or go remote.

Opting for remote hiring offers several benefits:

• Maintain high standards: You won’t have to compromise on experience or alter your expectations. In many cases, you can be more selective, require specific systems experience, or maintain your salary requirements.
• Wider candidate pool: With remote options, you can evaluate significantly more candidates, leading to more informed hiring decisions.
• Potential cost savings: Insurance professionals value remote work and may accept lower salaries in high-cost areas or be more affordable in rural areas than what you’re accustomed to paying, allowing you to acquire talent for less than in your local market.

Reason #2: Changing Relocation Trends

Relocation is less prevalent today than it was a decade ago. Remote allows individuals to remain in their preferred locations, enabling them to care for aging parents, enjoy proximity to extended family, or accept leadership roles without uprooting families.

Reason #3: Targeting Specialized Candidates

2025 has been a year for agencies to hire specialized talent. As you pursue larger national accounts and develop niche verticals, the talent you need may not exist locally. To compete effectively in those situations, you need to tap into the remote talent pool.

Reason #4: Faster Hires

Time is a crucial metric for measuring recruiting success. There’s no reason an account manager job should be open for more than 45 days or an account executive job longer than 60 days. In those instances, explore the “What If” scenarios. What if we can’t find a local candidate? Then what? The answer is to go remote.

Reason #5: A Strategic Retention Approach

The desire for remote work is one of the biggest reasons insurance professionals start a job search. Your employees regularly receive messages from other agencies about 100% remote jobs. If that’s what they want, but you don’t ask, you’ll find out when they resign, regardless of how you make new hires. In an ironic twist of fate, in most cases agencies backfill the vacancy with a remote hire.

In Summary

The question I pose to you is this: Is remote hiring at your agency a “Get To” or a “Got To”? If you agree that the benefits of remote hiring outweigh the drawbacks, what is holding you back from embracing this approach more frequently in your recruiting process?

Topics Talent