5 places to find an insurance tech job
February 15, 2018 5:43 AM
This February is the third annual Insurance Careers Month, a monthly push by a coalition of industry stakeholders to attract new blood to insurance. The industry is expected to fill about 400,000 positions in the next two years -- and many of them are expected to be in tech areas like "analytics, big data, cyber-risk, information technology, e-marketing and social media, globalization and transformation," according to the coalition.
Most insurers list some number of information technology and digitally focused jobs on their internal sites. Some, however, are planning to take big swings in the short term, to make big expansions in their technology organizations in order to prepare their companies for disruption to come. Here are a few of those companies, which span several lines of business and home-office locations.
Most insurers list some number of information technology and digitally focused jobs on their internal sites. Some, however, are planning to take big swings in the short term, to make big expansions in their technology organizations in order to prepare their companies for disruption to come. Here are a few of those companies, which span several lines of business and home-office locations.
Santana, Danni
USAA
USAA plans to hire up to 1,000 technology professionals at its Phoenix office by the end of 2020, increasing the number of employees at that location by about a quarter. The multiline financial-services company for military professionals is focusing on data analytics, innovation, digital experience and design in four of its offices: Phoenix; Austin; Plano, Texas; and at its headquarters in San Antonio.
“As our membership grows and their needs change, our workforce must keep pace and evolve,” said Gay Meyer, assistant vice president of HR operations at USAA, in a statement. “Phoenix is a great market for us and with the area’s deep pool of tech talent, adding these roles makes sense.”
“As our membership grows and their needs change, our workforce must keep pace and evolve,” said Gay Meyer, assistant vice president of HR operations at USAA, in a statement. “Phoenix is a great market for us and with the area’s deep pool of tech talent, adding these roles makes sense.”
John Quinn/Bloomberg News
Progressive
Progressive Insurance is looking to fill more than 7,500 positions this year, and a portion of those will be in IT functions. The P&C insurers has several office locations, but those interested in digital careers should look closely at its headquarters in Cleveland and another office in Colorado Springs, Colo.
“We have many career paths you might not expect at an insurance company—like software developers and systems engineers,” said Steve Kaczynski, Progressive’s associate manager of recruitment marketing. “Not only will we continue to reach customers where they are, i.e. Flo Chatbot on Facebook Messenger, but the company’s vision is to be the customer's number one choice for auto and other insurance, like home, motorcycle and RV.”
“We have many career paths you might not expect at an insurance company—like software developers and systems engineers,” said Steve Kaczynski, Progressive’s associate manager of recruitment marketing. “Not only will we continue to reach customers where they are, i.e. Flo Chatbot on Facebook Messenger, but the company’s vision is to be the customer's number one choice for auto and other insurance, like home, motorcycle and RV.”
White Point Imaging
MassMutual
Life insurance carrier MassMutual is doubling down on its home state, looking to add 2,000 jobs in Massachusetts by 2021 including some IT functions. The company will construct a new building on the Boston waterfront, and up until then, will add about three-quarters of those jobs at its home office in Springfield, Mass.
Some locations outside Massachussetts will be consolidated into the new building in Boston, which CEO Roger Crandall says gives the company access to "a booming financial and digital economy and provides us with an enhanced opportunity to recruit innovators from the area’s deep and diverse talent pool.” MassMutual has beenhiring data scientists at its Amherst, Mass. location for several years.
Some locations outside Massachussetts will be consolidated into the new building in Boston, which CEO Roger Crandall says gives the company access to "a booming financial and digital economy and provides us with an enhanced opportunity to recruit innovators from the area’s deep and diverse talent pool.” MassMutual has been
EMC Insurance
EMC Insurance has more than 100 jobs available at its Des Moines, Iowa headquarters, CEO Bruce Kelley said in a January panel discussion . His fellow panelists also have jobs available, including AIG, whose Brian Duperreault has been involved in the Insurance Careers Month initiative in the past. AIG has 88 IT jobs posted at U.S. locations, according to a Digital Insurance review.
Simon Dawson/Bloomberg
Insurtechs
Legacy insurers aren't the only one with big hiring budgets. A rise in insurtech funding in the fourth quarter of 2018 has many upstarts looking to expand. Among those are renter's insurer Lemonade, which is planning to use a $120 million investment from SoftBank to expand; and Hippo, a home insurer that plans to build an Austin, Texas team this year to complement its 40 employees in California, after a $25 million funding round.