Insurance Information Institute reports on job loss and gain in the insurance industry

Insurance JobsDespite record profits this year, the insurance industry continues to shed jobs. The Insurance Information Institute has released a new report highlighting the losses in the property/casualty insurance sector. Signs of an improving economy may not be enough to help the industry keep its workforce employed, especially when confronted with costly losses due to this year’s natural disasters. The Institute’s report relied on data collected by the U.S. Labor Department’s Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Apart from a still turbulent economic climate, the industry has been downsizing as a result of a soft insurance market, as well as consolidations and acquisitions in recent months. The Institute notes that companies making marked improvements to their products may have also spurred job loss in August as the need for more employees diminished. According to the Institute’s report, some 2,100 jobs were shed from the industry in August 2011.

The property and casualty sector continues to see the most job loss of any other in the industry. The report notes that P/C insurers have cut more than 37,000 jobs since 2007.The sector also accounts for the majority of jobs lost in August. Many of the job cuts may be due to efforts by insurers to recover from costly events earlier in the year.

The report is not all bad news, in fact it shows that the life and health insurance sectors have added a combined total of 800 jobs in August.

Leave a Comment

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.