Independent agencies: Remote work appeals to a changing workforce
The industry weathered the dramatic changes of 2020 relatively well, according to a new report from Vertifore.
A new report on the state of independent insurance brokerages finds an industry in the midst of significant change, and one that expects more change down the road.
The new report by Vertifore, a Denver-based insurance technology provider, found that the industry weathered the dramatic changes of 2020 relatively well—it had lower numbers of unemployment than many industries, for example—but respondents to the company’s survey recognize that more change is unavoidable.
Not a young industry, but able to adapt
The Vertifore report surveyed workers in independent insurance brokerages and found that 73% of respondents said they had been in the industry more than 10 years. The survey also found that 72% of workers with 10+ years on the job were female, which the report said reflected ongoing trends, as the workforce has begun to trend more female over the age of 40.
Related: What does it take to succeed as an independent agency?
Like so many workers, those in independent brokerages spent a lot more time working remotely in 2020—but a significant number did not. “While the majority of our survey respondents transitioned to at least 50% remote and nearly a third 100% remote in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, a somewhat surprising 28% remained in the office 100% of the time,” the report said. “This breakdown makes sense with a closer look at the data. Most of the respondents who remained in the office 100% of the time worked in an office with fewer than six employees, making it easier to maintain social distancing.”
An interesting–though perhaps not surprising–finding of the survey is that a lot of those workers seemed to like the remote work experience. When asked to describe their ideal work breakdown, almost 70% said they’d like to work remotely at least half the time.
Some preferred full-time remote work (18%), a quarter of respondents said they’d prefer 80% of their time to be remote work and 20% at the office, another 25% wanted a 50/50 split, 17% said they’d prefer to work at the office 20% of the time, and 15% of respondents preferred full time work at the office.
“Compared to the actual breakdown of remote versus in-office detailed earlier in this report, these responses suggest that many employees who remained in-office 80-100% of the time were unhappy with that arrangement in 2020,” the report said. “This data suggests there is room for improvement when it comes to the insurance industry providing more flexibility in work environment. And improvements in flexible working conditions could be an advantage when it comes to attracting and retaining talent.”
Work/life balance an issue for many employees
The survey found women were more likely to work either full-time from home or full-time from work—male workers had slightly higher numbers in the mixed-hours categories. The most significant gap was in the full-time remote category: 35% of female respondents checked that box, while only 23% of male respondents said they worked full-time remotely. The report said this reflected the reality that women had more responsibility for child-care duties during a year where nearly all school children attended classes remotely.
The report added that such issues are going to continue to affect attracting and retaining workers, as women continue to make up a greater percentage of the insurance brokerage workforce. “Especially as the industry faces employee shortage in the coming years, it will be vital for employers to acknowledge and appreciate these statistics of women in the workplace, where balancing work and personal life has come into the spotlight,” the report said.
The uncertainty of the times seemed to affect the confidence of workers in how long they would stay in their brokerage roles. In 2019, 49% said they expected to stay in their current role for more than 10 years, in 2020, that number dropped to 41%. More than half (54%) said work-life balance was a top issue that might lead them to leave the industry—but that came in second to the issue of compensation (59%).
There were relatively good numbers when respondents were asked if they had the necessary tools to work from home; 70% agreed or strongly agreed that they did. Still, a double-digit percentage—13%—disagreed or strongly disagreed that they had the tools they needed.
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