Winning the Talent War

The talent war is not new but today the insurance industry is under heavy pressure to come up with a more successful strategy.

The insurance industry workforce is old. The average age of an insurance industry professional is 54, and 60 percent of insurance industry professionals are older than 45. According to a 2010 McKinsey report, 20 percent of the insurance workforce is near retirement age.

Also, the talent pool is shrinking. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, 60 percent of all new jobs in the 21st century will require skills and experience held by only 20 percent of the current workforce.

The industry is well aware that it faces a challenge.

When at war, why not call on the military? That’s exactly what some in the industry have decided to do. Through special units, concerted outreach, mentoring programs, job fairs and partnerships with veterans organizations, insurance companies and brokers are letting it be known that the industry has opportunities for those looking for post-military careers.

Some of the activities are leading to direct hiring of veterans while others are generating greater awareness by veterans of the career opportunities in insurance and better understanding by insurance human resource managers of the benefits of hiring veterans.

A number of insurers have been recognized as among the country’s most military-friendly firms. They include USAA (which serves military customers), Prudential, Travelers, Progressive, Combined Insurance, The Hartford, State Farm, Aon and MetLife.

Military-friendly companies including those involved in the growing effort to bring military veterans into the insurance business say they do so because it is good business. David Dahler, director of human resources for Aon Corp., has found veterans can fill a number of different roles. “Because of the attitude they bring and the work ethic, we can put them into a wide variety of jobs and after reasonable training periods they’re ready to go and are very successful typically,” he says. Aon actually has a unique crisis team that is staffed entirely by U.S. military veterans.

Liberty Mutual has also had good experience hiring veterans. “They understand the nature of structure and how relationships have to be in place in order to be effective,” according to Larry Israelite, manager of human resource development. “They’ve done very well.”

Insurance Journal set out to learn more about how the insurance industry is turning to veterans to help win the talent war and how veterans are turning to the insurance industry for new careers. In this issue are two short articles (article 1, article 2) on the topic of veterans in insurance. You’ll find more on our website, www.insurancejournal.com, along with podcasts with several veterans.

Is your firm enlisting veterans to win the talent war? We’d like to know.