The Hays Salary & Recruiting Trends 2023 Guide surveyed nearly 100 insurance employers and professionals. Almost all (94%) employers expect their organisation’s performance to increase or stay the same over the course of the year. Diving deeper into this data, it was revealed that 79% of employers plan on hiring staff in the next year.

Fierce competition for talent

The skills gap continues to be a challenge for employers within the insurance sector; a staggering 100% of employers experienced skills shortages in the last 12 months, compared to 85% the year before.

As a result, competition for talent is strong, with nearly two thirds (65%) of employers anticipate they will face competition from other organisations and a shortage of suitable candidates when hiring in 2023. Our research also revealed that the importance of soft skills should not be underestimated; the most in-demand soft skills that employers require are:

• Communication and interpersonal skills (50% of employers desire this)
• Flexibility and adaptability (46%)
• Problem-solving (43%)
• An ability to learn (32%)
• Coordinating with others (32%)

Salaries are on the rise

The competition for talent has arguably led to bigger pay increases than expected. As well as this, the cost-of-living crisis has caused an increased concern amongst professionals about whether their salary will cover the extra costs.
Over the last year, 78% of employers increased their employees’ pay and salaries across the insurance sector have risen by 4.1% in the past year. Professionals working in actuarial and broking roles have seen salary rises of above this average, mostly as a result of employers competing for in-demand niche expertise, skillsets and experience.

Salary increases are set to continue, as the majority of insurance employers (81%) plan to raise staff salaries in the coming year.

Notably, pay satisfaction has remained the same since last year, with 65% of professionals stating they’re happy with their pay. Despite this, 41% of insurance professionals moved jobs in the last year and a further 46% considered doing so, and the main reason professionals left their last job was because their salary was too low (44%).

Work-life balance and benefits top priorities for professionals

Close to two-thirds (62%) of insurance professionals gave their work-life balance a positive rating. Our research confirmed that work-life balance is crucial for attracting and retaining talent. When asked what they value most highly when considering a new role aside from salary, 24% of professionals cited work-life balance, as well as benefits packages (also 24%), as the most important factors apart from pay.

Whilst most (81%) organisations offer hybrid working to staff, insurance professionals want even more flexibility. 61% intend to find a role with more of a mix of hybrid working in the next 12 months and, on top of that, more than half (52%) of employees could be tempted to move job if they were able to choose how often they were in the workplace when working under a hybrid model.

Earning Potential in Insurance
Business Function	Entry Level*	Senior roles*	Partner/Head*
Underwriting	£21,250	£104,000	£248,000
Claims	£38,000	£97,000	£187,000
Broking	£38,500	£105,000	£218,000
Risk and Compliance	£24,750	£85,000	£153,000
Projects, Change and Operations	£42,000	£107,000	£211,000
Actuarial	£36,000	£174,000	£335,000

*Salaries based on jobs in London. Source Hays’ UK Salary & Recruiting Trends 2023 Guide.