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Navigating through the industry skills shortage
Navigating through the industry skills shortage It’ll come as no surprise to anyone working in the insurance industry that, from a talent and skills perspective at least, things are tough. With low unemployment fuelling increased wage demands, COVID-19 border closures stemming the fow of insurance talent into the country and people generally reprioritising what’s important to them from their careers, insurance – like many other sectors – has been hard hit. “The great resignation has been the buzz term of 2022, and when you really break it down it’s about job satisfaction,” says Alison Brough, Head of Underwriting Services, Commercial, at Allianz. “It has all been triggered by our time at home during COVID-19. People are far more conscious of the culture of a company, and the work/life balance they can achieve, together with job satisfaction.” Brough says while certain skill sets are always in high demand,
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experience has become increasingly valuable to attract and retain. “Skills are trainable, but experience – that innate ability to know what to do – has become incredibly valuable for many roles.” The skills shortage, however, is real, and in the short, medium and long term needs to be addressed in the industry, though it’s not a problem that is confned to insurance. “There is a signifcant talent shortage across all sectors and industries, insurance is not exempt from this,” says Jasmine Claridge, Learning and Development Manager at Insurance House. “We don’t think there’s a single reason for this. It’s multifaceted and complex, like most people issues are.” MOVE OVER RESILIENCE… Bringing good people into the industry and, perhaps more importantly, retaining them once they’re here, is going to be critically important over the coming months and years. And, while ‘resilience’ has been talked about a lot through the pandemic, Brough says thinking in Allianz has evolved.
