The insurance industry is no longer just grappling with a looming talent gap—it is knee-deep in it. With hundreds of thousands of experienced professionals heading toward retirement and too few newcomers to take their place, underwriting and other critical functions risk a brain drain that could compromise performance, innovation, and growth.
At a recent online seminar hosted by SEND and moderated by 5189 Limited CEO Tony Tarquini, a panel of industry veterans painted a stark picture of the workforce gap, especially in underwriting, while offering hopeful strategies for attracting and developing the next generation of insurance professionals.
The Talent Gap Crisis Is Already Here
“In the U.S. alone, 400,000 people in the insurance profession are expected to leave by 2026. That’s not a looming crisis—it’s a crisis that’s already here,” Tarquini said. “And it’s compounded by the fact that few young people grow up aspiring to enter the industry. Most fall into it by accident. That’s just not good enough anymore.”
Rose Hall, former innovation leader at AXA XL and now head of RH Business Ventures, said the U.S. is beginning to build academic pipelines that did not exist when she started her career as an engineer.
“There are risk management and insurance programs popping up at universities like UNC Chapel Hill, which gives me hope,” Hall said. “But we’ve still got to make insurance sexy again—flip the narrative and position it as the tech-enabled, dynamic business it actually is.”
That reframing is especially urgent as the demographic squeeze tightens. In London, more than a quarter of underwriters are now over 50, said Suzanne Bray, Head of Talent & Growth at Convex. “Following Covid, a lot of experienced professionals left the workforce, and at the same time, internship and grad programs were frozen. So, we’ve had a talent gap at both ends.”
A Different Solution
One solution being tested successfully is hiring mid-career professionals from outside the insurance world. At Convex, Bray said returner programs have helped bring in skilled professionals—some from Goldman Sachs—into underwriting roles. “They already have client management and analytical skills. All we have to do is teach them the technical insurance piece,” she said.
Beyond new hiring tactics, Bray said the industry needs a better value proposition for younger workers in order to address the talent gap.
“They’re not attracted to Monday through Friday, 9-to-5. They want flexibility, autonomy, and meaning,” she said. “If we don’t offer that, they’ll look elsewhere.”
Changing perceptions of the industry may be the biggest hurdle.