U.S. life and health insurers are more optimistic about hiring than they were a year ago, and they are especially hungry for actuaries, operations staffers and technology specialists.
Insurers predict that they will increase their employee count by a total of 0.92% over the next 12 months, according to the latest insurance staffing market survey organized by the Jacobson Group and Aon's Ward Benchmarking unit.
The projected 2024 increase is lower than the 1.69% increase that the companies predicted in 2022, but it's up from the 0.51% increase included in the 2023 survey results.
Life and health insurers ended up with stronger demand for workers in 2023 than they expected: About 14% said they would cut staffing, but only 12% went ahead with that. This year, the percentage of insurers expecting to increase staffing or hold it steady has increased to 88%, from 86% a year ago.
The survey team does not say how many insurers participate in the survey, but about 19% of the total are life and health insurers.
What it means: Life and health insurers still have plenty of jobs to fill.
