Is the risk and insurance sector doing enough to attract young talent?

The insurance and risk management industry has made significant strides in its approach to diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI), but still falls behind in promoting attractive career options that will engage and retain early career professionals, says Cornelia Röskau of SI Insurance (Europe), Sompo’s European legal entity.

In a workshop at this year’s Ferma Forum in Madrid, I was in discussion with three Generation Z panel members about how we can transform the insurance and risk management industry to make it more attractive and accessible to young people.

We seem to have been talking about the need for ‘new blood’ in the industry for a decade or more without much changing. While insurance internships are currently mushrooming, the key for organisations is having available career opportunities and creating an experience that makes those interns want to become employees.

The truth is that acquiring fresh talent requires dedicated investment and resources to be effective. The risk and insurance sector needs to adopt a more collaborative approach to widening the talent pool through raising awareness of potential career opportunities.

Open the door a little wider

We need to make entry to the industry easier for young people. At Sompo, for example, we participate in university job fairs and offer attractive internships and training programmes for young people. Other carriers do the same but the number of insurers offering such opportunities is limited.

We also need to keep relationships with interns going beyond the period of their internship, to keep them engaged with the industry and hopefully sharing positive experiences they have had in the sector.

In addition, we need to lower some of the barriers to entry for risk and insurance jobs. A lot of young people may be put off from going to university because of the expense. We need to make it easier for those who have not acquired a degree to pursue a career in the industry, with outreach work expanded to schools and colleges, and more on-the-job training.

Find out who Gen Z are

We need a better understanding of the current cohort of school leavers and undergraduates – so-called Gen Z; find out what is important to them and what motivates them. Having grown up in an era of profound change and economic and geopolitical uncertainty, they are focused on financial security and a better work/life balance – alongside issues such as ecological awareness, sustainability, social justice, and diversity and inclusion.

As such, we should be doing a better job of promoting the positive aspects of the insurance industry. We do meaningful work that enables businesses to operate with greater financial stability, that brings relief to individuals, communities and organisations in crisis, and which helps them to build resilience against future challenges.

A job in risk and insurance offers both a sense of purpose and the opportunity to develop that Gen Z entrepreneurial spirit. We should be giving young people in the industry more responsibility, more of a voice at a senior level, and greater inclusion in company decision making. At Sompo, for example, we regularly invite feedback through things like pulse surveys, executive roundtables and mentoring programmes – and act on what we hear. Initiatives such as the reverse mentoring scheme introduced through the Dive In festival should be expanded throughout the risk and insurance community.

Be proud of the work we do as an industry

Those of us who work in risk and insurance do not always show enough pride in what we do and make a poor job of persuading young people that they can have an interesting and rewarding career in this industry, in a nurturing work environment.

As a business leader, I go to school job fairs and give presentations about insurance to young people who are studying finance to articulate the benefits of a career in insurance. But we also need to empower young risk and insurance professionals to be ambassadors for their industry.

They are the best people to spread the message that, in addition to a sense of purpose, our industry offers stable employment, an attractive work environment, flexible working conditions, and competitive pay and benefits.

Of course, widening the talent pool for risk and insurance jobs and increasing the flow of young people into our industry will not happen overnight. This transformation requires a sustained process of communication that, at both an industry-wide and an organisational level, involves bringing everyone on side to be successful – but it is essential if our industry is to keep pace with an evolving job market.