The healthcare space continues to evolve amid ongoing challenges, pressures and shifts. In our team’s recent conversations with leaders across all areas of health insurance, creating comprehensive human capital strategies remains top of mind. Today’s pace of change and challenging market requires the ability to be creative and flexible in leveraging talent and meeting members’ needs. 

The industry continues to face layered complexities and pressures, further compounding an already difficult talent landscape. The unemployment rate for insurance carriers and related activities continues to decline, dropping to 1% in September, compared to 3.8% for the overall U.S. economy. Given month-to-month fluctuations and a limited BLS sample size, the three month rolling average of 1.3% may paint the most accurate picture of the current situation.

In our conversations with insurance leaders, an increasing number of companies are sharing their plans to remain hybrid for the long term. In fact, our Q3 2023 Insurance Labor Market Study found 92% of insurers currently offer hybrid work, with about two-thirds expecting employees to be in the office at least one day per week through the end of the year.

Unemployment continues to decline within the insurance carriers and related activities sector, falling to 1.4% in August, despite a slight increase in the overall economy’s unemployment rate. Job openings within finance and insurance remain elevated compared to pre-pandemic numbers and total separations have declined compared to last year. The previously volatile labor market appears to be settling; however, recruiting remains a challenge. 

Despite rising costs for health insurance and profitability issues within property and casualty, the industry’s talent landscape remains strong. The unemployment rate for insurance carriers and related activities dropped by more than 1.5 points last month, following a brief spike in June. Industry employment also continues to grow, with the sector adding nearly 30,000 jobs since the beginning of 2023.