Vertafore, the leader in modern insurance technology, recently released its 2024 insurance workforce survey report: “The insurance agency workforce: Talent, tech, and the hard market.”

Based on responses from nearly 2,000 professionals at independent insurance agencies, the report provides insights into how producers, owners, account managers and customer service representatives are experiencing the hard market, technology’s role in their work, and hiring and retention trends. Respondents also shared how they got into insurance, how they feel about their work, and what the industry can do to attract new talent.

Takeaways from Vertafore’s 2024 survey include:

• Insurance professionals remain passionate about helping people. With a surge in client-centric responses compared to 2023, three-quarters of respondents in 2024 said “helping clients protect what matters” is their top career motivator.
• Hard market pressures are affecting day-to-day work in a variety of ways. Over half of the insurance professionals surveyed said it has become more difficult to place risk and they are having more difficult conversations with clients. They are also experiencing heavier workloads and increased stress.
• Agencies need a plan to handle the retirement of seasoned employees. Survey data shows that account managers are the largest group planning to retire in the next five years, and there is a potential gap in the succession planning to replace them.
• The inclination to refer a friend to an insurance career has dipped. Most respondents would still refer friends to a career in the industry, but this number has dropped by 20% since the question was first asked in 2021.
• Some software solutions are easing the hard-market burdens, especially insurance knowledge databases. Over 60% of survey takers indicated that this solution is key to dealing with the difficulties a hard market brings.

“At Vertafore, we’re committed to powering the spirit of the insurance industry through real, human connections,” said Kristin Nease, Chief People Officer at Vertafore. “Our latest workforce report highlights how dedicated independent agencies are guiding their clients and that they value working in an industry that truly helps people.”

Download “The insurance agency workforce: Talent, tech, and the hard market” to see all findings.

About Vertafore

As North America’s InsurTech leader for 55 years, Vertafore is modernizing and simplifying the insurance life cycle so that our customers can focus on what matters most. Vertafore’s solutions provide end-to-end connectivity across the distribution channel, improve the client and agent experience, unlock the power of data, and streamline essential workflows to drive efficiency, productivity, and profitability for independent agencies, MGAs and carriers.