View this article online: https://www.claimsjournal.com/news/national/2016/02/29/269099.htm

Insurance Labor Study Highlights Continued Staffing Growth, Low Unemployment

According to the latest iteration of the Semi-Annual U.S. Insurance Labor Study conducted by The Jacobson Group and Ward Group, a part of Aon Hewitt, a business unit of Aon plc, 66.3 percent of companies polled intend to increase staff in 2016. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics reported the unemployment rate for the insurance industry at 2.1 percent, continuing the low industry unemployment trend.

“The staffing prediction was the highest anticipated rate in the 7-year history of our survey,” says Gregory P. Jacobson, co-chief executive officer of Jacobson. “It is clear that the insurance industry is focused on building staff, resulting in an increasingly competitive labor market.”

Some additional key findings include:

• 80.4 percent of organizations expect an increase in revenue throughout the upcoming year.
• Technology, claims and underwriting positions continue to be the most in demand industry positions.
• If the industry follows through on its plans, we will see a 1.72 percent increase in industry employment during the next 12 months.
• Large companies have the most optimistic view of increasing revenue, 96 percent expect growth as compared to 78 and 72 percent for small and mid-sized companies.

For more highlights, download the full results summary at https://jacobsononline.com/uploadfiles/industry_labor_mkt_study_summary_q12016_final.pdf.

The next iteration will occur in July 2016 of the Insurance Labor Outlook Study.

Source: The Jacobson Group/Ward Group