2014 CII Skills Survey: Rising skills shortages hit general insurance
Skills shortages in general insurance (GI) businesses have risen significantly in the last twelve months according to the Chartered Insurance Institute’s (CII) annual skills survey, in association with Markerstudy Group.
• 73% of GI employers report skills shortages
• 62% of GI employers struggle to attract new talent but only 36% have problems retaining it
• 55% of GI employers expect to increase headcount over the next twelve months
The research, conducted amongst the CII membership, found 73% of employers reporting shortages, a 13 percentage point increase on 2013.Despite an increase in shortages, 82% of CII members believe that the UK insurance profession has the skills to compete globally.
The survey found over three fifths of employers (62%) struggle to attract new talent into their firms. Yet this is not stopping them from increasing their headcount. Over half of employers (55%) expect to do so over the next year, a 6 percentage point rise from last year.
Employers are using a variety of recruitment methods with word of mouth the most popular. 2014 has seen a rise in school and college leaver programmes. The number of firms with links to local education establishments has almost doubled since 2012 (42% from 22%).
Encouragingly insurance is a profession in which people choose to remain. 64% of employers say that retaining talent is not a problem. One reason for this is the opportunity to develop career enhancing skills; over three quarters of members (77%) believe that insurance provides those chances.
Ashwin Mistry, president of the CII and chairman of Brokerbility said:
"The results of this survey lay down a challenge to the industry, following on from last year's Insurance Growth Action Plan. We need to work together to tackle shortages and recruitment issues. It is vital we make insurance a career destination of choice for future generations. Good work is underway through Discover Risk and the insurance apprenticeships initiative and we must build on this.
"Not only do we have to attract talent, we also have to develop it and the positive from this survey is that firms are rising to the challenge and recognising that doing so drives productivity and aids staff retention."
Tanya Gerrard-White, director of HR & talent development at Markerstudy Group said: "It is concerning that employers are reporting increased skills shortages. The sentiment behind this must be better understood by the industry to find lasting ways to fix it.
"If the right people are tricky to find, once we have them it is even more important we work hard to keep them. As businesses, we should be doing all we can to promote the range of career paths and development opportunities available."
