Bringing ‘sexy back’: How the insurance industry can rebuild its workforce

Changing the perception of insurance as a “boring” industry, passing down human skills and recruiting mid-career professionals are three ways American insurers can counteract the talent crisis that experts say isn’t looming but already here.

“Four hundred thousand people in the insurance profession are due to leave the industry in the U.S. by 2026. We’re in 2025; that’s next year. That is not a crisis that’s looming — it’s one that’s actually here today, and if you combine that with the small fraction of young people who are considering insurance as a career, then what does it say about what we’re doing to secure talent and look after talent in the U.S.?” Tony Tarquini, founder and CEO, 5189 Limited, said during a recent webinar hosted by Send, an insurance software solutions company.

Tarquini, who acted as moderator, and panelists Rose Hall, founder and CEO, RH Business Ventures, and Suzanne Bray, head of talent and growth, Convex Insurance, noted a two-fold challenge:

• Attracting enough new talent to close gaps
• Ensuring seasoned professionals are engaged to transfer knowledge and provide training

“If we skip over that layer of leadership, I think we’re going to have a gap in our understanding and our ability to really have a sustainable, continuous business going forward. It’s super important for those exiting to be inclusive of that next generation,” Hall said.

Bringing 'sexy back’ to insurance

The panelists agreed that insurance’s reputation as being “boring” can act as a detractor for new recruits, many of whom don’t realize the many different career paths that exist within the industry. They noted that many insurance professionals themselves did not choose insurance but only somehow inadvertently ended up working in the industry.

“I think it’s incumbent upon us to ‘bring sexy back’ to the insurance industry. We have to change that paradigm because it’s a lot of fun and it’s very creative — way more creative than I ever gave it credit for in the first half of my career,” said Hall.

“Insurance does have a bit of a perception problem. It’s trying to sell the exciting part of insurance — specialty insurance, aerospace, insuring film stars, footballers’ legs, that kind of thing. It’s really trying to appeal to a sector that wouldn’t ordinarily consider insurance as a career as a traditional graduate career path,” Bray added.

Both Hall and Bray suggested breaking away from traditional ways of working, either by incorporating more technology and/or considering flexible working, could help appeal to younger generations and help alleviate the talent crisis.

“What’s really attractive to them is flexibility,” Bray said. “They really want flexibility around how they work, where they work and the way they work using AI and technology. They’re not so attracted to the traditional ways of working in an insurance industry, which is the Monday to Friday, nine to five.”

She said it’s incumbent on the insurance industry to create a value proposition that is attractive to a generation “looking for something different.”

Human skills vs AI

Ensuring that skills are passed from outgoing team members to new recruits is another major consideration in addressing a talent crisis, but panelists urged more of a focus on human skills than technical skills because the rapid advancement of AI is expected to change job roles and create new skills.

To underscore this point, Bray cited a study by Dell Technologies that projected 85% of the jobs that will exist in 2030 haven’t even been invented yet.

“Trying to work out which key skills you need for roles that don’t currently exist is a bit tricky. So, we’re really focusing on building resilience, critical reasoning skills, the relationship side, focusing on client service excellence and, of course, AI and digital literacy are incredibly important,” she said.

“The biggest skill that we’re going to need to impart on that next wave of professionals that we want to grow is leadership skills, because it’s going to take a different kind of leader in an AI world than it did when we were becoming leaders,” Hall added.

Tapping into transferable talent

However, insurers were urged to also consider recruiting at the mid-level segment and not just focusing on young talent coming in at entry-level.

“Strategic talent acquisition programmes are probably incredibly important to try and bring a diverse pool of people into the insurance industry who wouldn’t ordinarily consider it,” Bray said.

She noted that, in the United Kingdom, some companies have programs to bring experienced professionals into the insurance industry, such as bankers with transferable skills or even military veterans who can then be trained on technical insurance knowledge.

Hall also suggested that legacy leaders can be brought on as consultants, allowing them to mentor and train younger generations without leaving the industry completely.

"That’s a great bridge to bring up the next generation while also keeping the talent and keeping that legacy knowledge,” she said.

Send Technology Solutions is an insurtech that provides commercial insurance software solutions through an online platform. It was founded in 2017 and is based out of London, the United Kingdom.

5189 Limited is a financial management consultancy firm founded in 2021 and based out of Newbury, Berkshire.

RH Business Ventures is a risk management advisory firm founded in 2025 and based out of Irvine, California.

Convex Insurance is a global specialty insurer and reinsurer with operations in the United Kingdom and the Caribbean and a U.S. office in Princeton, New Jersey. It was founded in 2019 and is based out of Hamilton, Bermuda.

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Rayne Morgan is a journalist, copywriter, and editor with over 10 years' combined experience in digital content and print media. You can reach her at [email protected].