Written by Diana Shay Milazzo, Assistant Vice President, and Julie Arnold, Sourcer

Picture this: young job seekers spent their mornings flipping through local newspapers, combing its pages for new listings and eagerly scanning the copy for responsibilities and requirements to which they were a match. When intrigued, they would package their resumes neatly with a cover letter and drop it in the mail and then patiently wait to be called for an interview. Furthermore, it was not uncommon to be in the dark about an employer until the day of the interview. Employers, on the other hand, were limited to paying for help wanted ads to attract candidates; and until resumes started rolling in, they were limited to internal candidates and referral lists.

It is no secret that the insurance industry is suffering a severe talent gap created by the aging workforce. In fact, it is projected that the industry will need to fill nearly 400,000 positions in the next couple of years, but there are simply not enough employees and candidates to take these roles.

It is my pleasure to introduce a guest blogger for this latest post. Dave Coons is senior vice president of our professional recruiting team. His insights into salary trends are worth a read. Enjoy...

Today’s insurance industry is a passive candidate-driven market. As increasing retirement rates and the widening skills gap force organizations to continuously hire, workers feel empowered to switch jobs for a raise in pay. In fact, 2.7 percent of people in the private sector voluntarily left their jobs this May, the highest level since 2001, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Employees know job-hopping is effective, too. The bureau reported last month that real wages have remained unchanged for all employees since June last year, even though the overall unemployment rate has significantly decreased. 

The paradigm of diversity and inclusion (D&I) is evolving at this very moment. The world is not the same as it was 10 years ago. The “salad bowl” is quickly replacing the United States’ “melting pot.” Men stand as allies to tackle gender disparity and support equal representation in organizations, companies are publicly and boldly demonstrating their support of the LGBTQ community, and workplace activists are actively collaborating with individuals and teams to contextualize workplace equality.

Healthcare professionals and their patients are retiring at an alarming rate. In fact, there will be more than one million openings for registered nurses by 2024 - twice the rate seen in previous shortages. Meanwhile, there will be a 55 percent increase in number of Americans aged 65 and older who seek additional care over the next two years. However, nursing school enrollment is not increasing fast enough to meet this projected demand and lack of nursing school faculty is preventing larger program enrollments.