‘The New Collars’

One positive trend that could help fill the insurance talent gap is what Oliver Wyman Forum calls “The New Collars.”

New Collars are blue-collar workers who used the pandemic to learn new skills so that they could find better jobs. Their transcendence of single-collar careers is helping lead a labor revolution, Oliver Wyman Forum said in a new study that found that the desire for more work flexibility was a key motivation for blue-collar employees to make the transition.

“Many blue-collar workers lost jobs as the pandemic began. When working, they clocked hours in person — putting themselves and their loved ones at risk — while they watched white-collar employees migrate to safe remote setups, with their jobs and pay protected,” the report said.

Rather than accept this fate, many New Collar workers began to set their eyes on greener pastures by reinventing their job skills. “They learned new skills to get the compensation and flexibility they crave and deserve, and their hard work has started to pay off.” Many are shifting to better jobs, creating an even tighter labor market as baby boomers also retire.

A few key findings regarding New Collars, according to the survey:

• 70% of respondents were optimistic about their ability to find a new job. They’re heading towards future-proof industries.
• One-quarter of those that have switched jobs, have gone to software, electronics engineering, or IT/data processing. They’re taking advantage of online courses and are not going back to school.
• Some 49% took free courses and 40% took a paid course. Only 1% went back to traditional formal schooling.
• But they were also willing to stay in their blue-collar jobs, for the right reasons. Some 97%of New Collars said they would stay at their current job under the right conditions, such as receiving a pay raise, better work-life balance and more flexibility were most cited to make them stay.

Could this trend be an opportunity for the insurance industry which continues to struggle with talent shortages at nearly every sector? I think so.