101 Ways Coronavirus Crisis Has Changed P/C Insurance Pros’ View of Their Job. Or Not.

By | July 7, 2020

Has the coronavirus experience changed how property/casualty insurance professionals view their jobs?

Yes and no. The biggest change is that many in the industry learned they can do their job from home, and most, although not all, like that.

That’s according to more than a thousand comments included in the results of Wells Media’s Property/Casualty Insurance Industry Coronavirus Survey. The survey captured responses from 1,704 individuals representing a cross section of the industry.

As revealed in an earlier report on the survey results, 78% of employees in the property/casualty insurance industry have worked from home more than half the time during the outbreak.

According to the individual comments in the survey, many have gained a greater appreciation for their job, their employer and their own ability to adapt. The words they use include grateful, thankful, like, love, lucky, glad, appreciative, happy and similar positive expressions. For others, the pandemic response has revealed shortcomings of their companies and, for a surprising number, it has prompted them to think about retiring.

About the survey Wells Media Group conducted the Property/Casualty Insurance Industry Coronavirus Survey online from May 26 through June 12, 2020. For that period, the survey was available to readers on three of Wells Media’s sites: InsuranceJournal.com, CarrierManagement.com and ClaimsJournal.com, all of which serve the property/casualty insurance industry. A total of 1,704 respondents participated. They work for agencies and brokerages, insurers and reinsurers, vendors to the industry, and other industry-related organizations in all areas and levels of responsibility. The survey explores the effects of the crisis on industry executives and employees as well as the impact on their revenues, jobs and customers. It reveals how they fared working from home, what steps their employers have taken, and when they will be comfortable resuming normal activities. Respondents share how they feel about their job and their employer, and what they see ahead.

What Pros Say

The following are 101 randomly-selected comments from the 1,363 property/casualty insurance professionals who shared their opinion on whether the coronavirus pandemic has affected their view of their job.

  1. It has. It brought the entrepreneur out of me; don’t want to be dependent upon one salary.
  2. Early retirement. Live for today. Who knows when the next crisis will hit?
  3. Proud to work for a company with such a flexible culture, wise leadership.
  4. I love my job. Perhaps it has made me like my job more.
  5. Reminded me how responsible I am as the CEO of our company for the lives and economic well-being of our employees and their families.
  6. I realize I can do my job remotely with little problem and remain in contact with my team as if we were in the office together.
  7. May choose different work.
  8. As a manager it is like living an episode of the Twilight Zone and I do not like it. Perhaps it is time to retire.
  9. I want to change jobs.
  10. Furloughs and other pay cuts may lead me to change my retirement plans. Since the company’s plans are not finalized, I don’t know whether I will retire sooner or later than I had been planning. I turn 63 this summer.
  11. It’s more important for me and my clients.
  12. Very blessed to work for a solid carrier.
  13. Makes me question my overall sense of purpose and relevance. How meaningful is what I do? Very disorienting time.
  14. It has made me seriously consider retirement now… even though I like the mental stimulation and enjoy my work as a general rule.
  15. I am glad I have an essential job that allows me to work from home. I am fortunate that if I do not feel safe at the office and the office re-opens, I am at a stage in my life that I can choose to retire early and not return to the office if my employer will not permit me to continue to work from home.
  16. I want to retire as soon as I can.
  17. Recession proof yes; pandemic proof maybe not.
  18. I know corporate took steps from the beginning to make sure no one lost their job because of the crisis.
  19. The crisis made me love the travel and connection parts of my job.
  20. I realized that while I can technically do my job from anywhere in the world and the quality would be good, our best work is done when we’re together working as a team just steps away from each other. If an issue comes up, you can turn around or walk down the hall to talk to someone right then and there. You don’t have to schedule a call or web conference for another time.
  21. I am thankful to work and get paid, but am feeling less valued as a leader.
  22. I am lucky to be in an essential industry. Everyone still needs insurance even during a crisis. Insurance is a resilient industry.
  23. Our company could have let many of us work from home prior to crisis.
  24. I still like what I do.
  25. Retirement is starting to seem logical.
  26. Greater urgency to create positive change.
  27. Do I really even care about my job, what do I work for if I just sit inside all day with nothing to feel like I belong to?
  28. Yes: don’t want to retire now.
  29. Adjusting to working at home. I am 68 years old and much prefer working from office as I have for so many years. I feel like I have adapted well nonetheless.
  30. It hasn’t.
  31. I wish my company had stepped up & invested more in technology. My job itself has been very overwhelming with extra work from clients.
  32. That we need develop more revenue streams for our professional services. Only one client I have was concerned for our viability as a result of the lack claims volume.
  33. More important than ever.
  34. More grateful.
  35. The crisis has led me towards seeking a small independent business in addition to regular employment as a financial cushion.
  36. Importance of demonstrating value in changing role.
  37. Perspective of my job is just a job, life and health are more important. Do my best but not stress over things.
  38. Appreciate it more.
  39. Uncertainty about all jobs.
  40. No change.
  41. My role can be fulfilled without physically being at the office
  42. Increased respect for intellectual capital which enhances the success of working remotely.
  43. Think of things thru a more short term lens.
  44. I am lucky to be in an essential industry. Everyone still needs insurance even during a crisis. Insurance is a resilient industry.
  45. It has made me more aware that I need to look after this job and value my employment.
  46. While we empathize with businesses that are sustaining economic losses, we also understand that how a pandemic is uninsurable event.
  47. Greater urgency to create positive change.
  48. Got to refocus on advising and consulting, insurance products will be more competitive and less profitable
  49. Thankful for having one and working for a good company who cares about what is happening in our country overall.
  50. My job is more needed than before as I became responsible for the agency’s digitization.
  51. Companies don’t realize the value of employees.
  52. Makes me want to find a new career.
  53. Thanks God and my employers for their efforts.
  54. I think more favorably about my job and company due to how they handled the change.
  55. In no way – it’s still the best job I could ever have.
  56. Job has become tougher.
  57. It has not change anything.
  58. Definitely has caused more stress.
  59. I have to be proactive in getting new clients=
  60. I appreciate that my employer cares about me and takes the precautions to make sure everyone feels safe. I also am grateful to have a job.
  61. Grateful to be in this industry.
  62. It’s caused me to focus more on being a leader.
  63. I have to do more stuff on my own. Just like everybody else.
  64. Looking anew.
  65. Without the ability to travel, my job is now very mundane
  66. Very little, I still see the importance and value of what I do daily and what we provide as an industry.
  67. Grateful that I’m in the insurance and not another profession right now
  68. It can be much more remote than my employer previously thought.
  69. Right now I am lucky to have a job and still be employed because a lot of others don’t have a job so I am extra thankful.
  70. I love my job, sometimes I hate my spouse.
  71. I think it put it into better perspective. I like my job, but it really helped remind me how much more important my family and job are to me. It also made me really grateful for my company.
  72. I value it more.
  73. I am totally not going to stress about office drama again. So many meetings and so many issues ended up being non-issues.
  74. Life is more than your work. Time to prioritize personal relationships.
  75. There are days our customers complain that insurance doesn’t cover anything and days I find myself agreeing with them. It’s jaded me more than ever before.
  76. Realizing how I’m viewed within the organization.
  77. Profitability has become an issue…I still have to pay bills. I can no longer help individuals with products that are time consuming to explain, sell and write and pay a small commission.
  78. Before COVID-19; my job felt more stable and predictable. It was a lot easier working the odds, and predicting ratios. For example, we expect certain amount of claims, certain amount of cancellations, certain amount of new business, certain amount of business closures. But, after COVID-19, it feels totally unpredictable and a lot less certainty. For example a major unknown is how many of our clients will end up closing shop which directly affects income. Another major concern is the amount of declined business income claims that will turn into E&O issues. But stability and certainty are out the door for the short term.
  79. No, our work still requires a certain degree of interaction, this will not totally disappear. We will have to control our social interaction with staff, clients and other business colleagues, but with time, hopefully, this pandemic will disappear and will just be a bad memory that we will talk about but hopefully never experience again.
  80. I don’t do my job well enough.
  81. I wonder why I work some days, high stress, high expectations , not a lot of compassion with situation.
  82. Appreciate it more, but more frustrated by technology.
  83. I love my job and my teammates and our business; we truly want to work hard to solve customer challenges every day.
  84. Everyone is vulnerable.
  85. I do think employers would be smart to let employees who want to work from home do so. But my company does not like remote workers.
  86. Realize how we can have a stabilizing effect on customer’s attitudes.
  87. Companies don’t realize the value of employees.
  88. It hasn’t. I survived every major market issue starting with 9/11. If anything, I’m calmer and have clearer focus from experience.
  89. The greed and unconcern by officers was made clear.
  90. I miss the face-to-face in person meetings with clients. I don’t think much differently about my job. I still do the same things regardless of where I am. I have better appreciation for office environment and interaction with co-workers.
  91. I worry less about workplace drama , stay focused on work and trying to make more meaningful connections.
  92. Leadership is essential in keeping people focused and engaged.
  93. Reinforced the value of our team being remote for many years.
  94. Only validates that we are an important role with respects to our customers that AI and internet companies cannot provide.
  95. Makes me question the people that I do business with as any claims that have been incoming seem to be going to the adjusters doing business with them the longest
  96. More focused. More demanding. More careful. More compassionate.
  97. Looking elsewhere, looking outside my comfort zone.
  98. Need to have a backup plan.
  99. Loss of value of agency due to declining revenue as people drive less.
  100. It reinforced my thought that I do not need to come into an office.
  101. Can I retire yet?

Topics Talent Property Market Property Casualty COVID-19 Casualty

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