Takeaways:
- Life and health insurers projected more hiring than P&C
- Recruiting expected to be more difficult, respondents said
- In-office requirements decreasing among insurers
While growth for P&C and life insurers was slower during 2025, the industry can expect a rebound in 2026, creating hiring needs, according to an
Among property and casualty, life and reinsurers surveyed for the study, 50% plan to increase staff in the next 12 months (starting from January 2026), while 72% project an increase in revenue. Among life and health insurers, 65% expect to increase staff.
"The life sector is in a nice sweet spot right now, with the population age and their products are really aligning, both at age 65 and retiring, and millennials starting to inherit money," said Jeff Blair, senior vice president of executive search and business development at The Jacobson Group, speaking in a webcast presenting the study results. "The idea of increasing staff there makes sense."
Insurers think hiring will be more difficult, however, according to the survey. Twenty-one percent said their ability to hire will be moderately or significantly worse than a year ago. In a previous edition of the study in January 2025, 14% said hiring would be moderately or significantly tougher. Broken down by type of insurance, 30% of life and health insurers said hiring would be worse, while 18% of P&C insurers said the same.
"Particularly on the P&C carrier side, there is more focus on retention programs, and really trying to keep employees," Blair said. "I hear a mantra of, 'I'd rather pay a stay bonus than a sign on bonus.'"
Anticipated business volume growth is the biggest reason to increase staff in the coming year, according to 30% of respondents. Another 24% said business expansion or new markets required an increase in staff.
Companies previously were exiting personal lines, according to Jeff Rieder, partner and head of benchmarking in the strategy and technology group of Aon. "Now we're probably on the flip side, that personal lines is rebounding to profitability so significantly that for some organizations, it might actually pose a growth potential," he said.
Survey respondents raised certain challenges for hiring, according to Blair and Rieder. Actuarial roles are the toughest to fill, Blair said. Actuarial expertise "has almost a 0% unemployment rate," he said. "And now the newest unicorn that everybody's looking for is AI expertise in actuaries."
The survey results pointed to a shift in requirements for in-office presence, in part due to recruiting challenges. Requiring three to four days in-office dropped from 38% to 29% this year, while requiring one to two days in-office increased from 37% to 42%.
"While some companies were putting in full-time, in-office expectations, we saw more shift back to one or two days per week, with two days being the dominant number of days in the office," Rieder said. "In-office expectations impact the ability for companies to recruit."
