This study highlights the major recruitment trends in the insurance sector in countries where the industry is becoming highly digitalized.
Recruitment in the insurance business: distribution of the insurance workforce
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The OEMA survey of 140.067 employees confirms that the 2017 workforce distribution remained broadly unchanged in comparison with that of 2016.
Two major groups of activities dominate:
- distribution and commercial development with 31% of the positions
- management of contracts or benefits which includes 29% of the workforce
| Distribution of the overall workforce by job family | |
|---|---|
Distribution and commercial development | 31,0% |
Management of contracts or benefits | 29,0% |
Information systems | 7,7% |
Economic, accounting and financial management | 5,9% |
Administrative support | 4,5% |
Organization and quality | 3,7% |
Corporate management and governance | 3,3% |
Actuarial science and technical design | 2,4% |
Management and control of in-house risks | 2,4% |
Human resources | 2,3% |
Logistics | 2,2% |
Marketing | 1,5% |
Asset and real estate management | 1,1% |
Communications | 1,1% |
Technical control and prevention | 1% |
Source: Observatory of the Evolution of Insurance Professions (OEMA)
While the overall distribution seems to remain relatively stable, a few changes are still noticeable. Some activities are in decline. Insurers and reinsurers have reduced their workforce in areas such as management of contracts or benefits, logistics, administrative support, asset and real estate management, technical control and prevention.
Departures are offset by recruitments in other areas of insurance such as distribution and commercial development, information systems. As a result, the number of employees in the sector increased. It rose from 146.200 as at December 31st, 2016 to 146.800 at the end of 2017.
| Evolution of employment by job family all contracts combined | ||
|---|---|---|
Job family | Evolution 2017/2016 | |
| In figures | In % | |
Management and control of in-house risks | 284 | 8.9 |
Communications | 83 | 5.5 |
Marketing | 94 | 4.5 |
Corporate management and governance | 174 | 3.8 |
Human resources | 115 | 3.5 |
Information systems | 346 | 3.2 |
Economic, accounting and financial management | 245 | 2.9 |
Actuarial science and technical design | 94 | 2.7 |
Organization and quality | 110 | 2.0 |
Distribution and commercial development | 426 | 0.9 |
Management of contracts or benefits | -413 | -1 |
Logistics | -114 | -3.5 |
Administrative support | -384 | -5.5 |
Asset and real estate management | -100 | -5.9 |
Technical control and prevention | -425 | -22.4 |
Source: Observatory of the Evolution of Insurance Professions (OEMA)
Forecasted hires in insurance
In a report published in June 2018, OEMA presented recruitment trends in insurance and profiles sought over the years to come.
Workforce in the core business, such as actuarial science, technical design, marketing, etc. will be constant. There will be less recruitment in support and steering professions: administration, logistics, information and communication systems.
The number of executives will continue to increase with a rising demand for graduates.
| Core-jobs | Support jobs | Steering jobs | Overall workforce | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Data on workforce |  |  | | |
Manpower |  | | | - |
Representative weight of the job groups | | | | |
Recruitment rate | | | | |
Average age | | | | |
Rate of 55 year-olds and over | | | | |
Rate of executives | | | | |
Educational level: Bac+2,3,4 | | | | |
Educational level: Bac+5 | | | | |
Source: Observatory of the Evolution of Insurance Professions (OEMA)