Insurers flag talent shortage issues

Insurers have highlighted key challenges as a talent drought caused by high employment and covid-induced border closures continues.

Allianz Australia says insurers are “not immune” to the issues affecting all Australian businesses. GM People and Learning Centre Of Excellence Pierre De Villiers tells insuranceNEWS.com.au there is a skills shortage across “numerous critical areas of the industry”.

“The closure of international borders over the last two years has squeezed the already tight labour market even further, and the industry is finding itself in short supply of senior underwriters, actuaries, data analysts, product specialists and technical/specialised brokers,” he said.

“This has been exacerbated by increased competition from consulting firms and numerous fintech start-ups for talent as well as the embedment of significant regulatory reforms creating fierce competition for skilled risk and compliance professionals.”

Mr De Villiers says many employees have “much higher expectations” on wages and are “demanding higher salaries to move”.

But he says Allianz’s inclusive culture and new Ways of Working program are key to attracting talent.

“Over the past year we have been rolling out our new Ways of Working, empowering employees with flexibility, autonomy and the tools for efficient collaboration in the hybrid workplace,” he said.

“Allianz’s Ways of Working put both employees and customers at the centre of the organisation, and are enabled by technology as well as cultural change.”

Suncorp says that many people are now seeking “employment with purpose”.

“We have found that Suncorp’s strong purpose of ‘Building Futures and Protecting What Matters’ really resonates well with candidates,” EGM People & Culture Strategy Matthew Leslie tells insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“Our experience is that the external talent market is certainly very competitive right now, which is supported by the fact that the number of job ads is increasing and the number of job applications per role has decreased.

“Like many other organisations, Suncorp is also experiencing some increased employee initiated turnover across certain teams.

“Suncorp has been successful in recruiting a large number of new claims roles to support the recent severe weather events across Eastern Australia, bolstering our ability to support our customers and communities.

“We have also invested in promoting our Employee Value Proposition, employee flexibility and safety and wellbeing and have found these factors to be important ones to candidates.”