The long-awaited Careers in Insurance report by the Australian and New Zealand Institute of Insurance and Finance (ANZIIF) provides a valuable snapshot of an industry grappling with skills shortages.

One of the outcomes will be a Careers in Insurance website, to be developed and launched next year.

ANZIIF GM Marketing & Insights Meg Hurley says the website will target university graduates and school-leavers.

“The website will be about creating more awareness of the industry and getting more quality people into the industry,” she told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

“It’s an amazing and wonderful industry and we want graduates and school-leavers to know more about it.”

The report says 40% of survey respondents believe there is a skills shortage in insurance, and the industry is concerned about where the new generation of insurance professionals will come from.

It is based on a qualitative study of CEOs, directors and principals (67% of respondents), human resources professionals (17%) and senior executives and managers (16%) from 58 companies representing 20,000 employees.

Although 60% of respondents indicate there is no shortage of entry-level recruits – country and regional areas excepted – there remains concern about the effectiveness of graduate recruitment.

There is a widespread view that the industry is not recruiting well enough from high schools and universities, and 70.6% attribute this to lack of awareness of the industry.

The industry is pessimistic about the skills shortage being overcome in the short term: 67% believe it will remain for the next one to two years.

The skills shortage has resulted in increased competition for quality staff, and companies are trying different approaches to recruiting: 20% report greater reliance on specialist recruiters; 23.3% are taking on part-time staff or engaging temporary and contract workers; and 10% are targeting staff from competitors.

It is also taking longer to find the right people. In the previous two years, 55.9% of respondents report taking up to 90 days longer to fill roles, and 52.9% say increased starting salaries are required.

Employers are doing more to keep staff longer: 57% have put in place staff-retention policies or programs; 67.4% are paying higher-than-average wages; 67% provide increased internal training; and 55.8% have introduced greater flexibility in work hours.

The report is a joint project led by ANZIIF, along with the Insurance Council of Australia and the National Insurance Brokers Association.

Ms Hurley says it aims to give companies a benchmark to measure themselves against. The survey will be an ongoing project, conducted every one or two years.