The upheaval of the past few years means life is sweet for job-hunters, who now have top choice, says recruiter Austin Brislen
It’s easier than we think to become accustomed to change; even monumental changes quickly become the ‘new norm’. It’s only when we contrast these new norms with the past that we fully comprehend the shift.
The past few years have been turbulent for the UK, from covid to economic and political turmoil – 2022 alone saw us go through four chancellors and three prime ministers. The economic fallout hit the profession in September, when highly skilled actuaries saved pension schemes from the liability-driven investment crisis.
The actuarial market has not been immune to this volatility and in my view, having recruited actuaries since 2010, employees’ influence has never been greater – representing a power shift away from employers.
Five to 10 years ago, a ‘typical’ recruitment process would involve candidates attending a minimum of two or three face-to-face interviews. The client would invite at least three candidates for a final-stage interview, with the decision often taking more than a week, and they would nearly always secure their first-choice candidate. If they were to lose this candidate to a counter offer, they would revert to the second choice. In short, they would, nine times out of 10, fill the role at a pace that suited them.
Searching for a role was tough for candidates, although there were still some great opportunities in the market. However, competition was intense, and while I would not say employees were ‘on the back foot’, it was certainly not an equal power dynamic.
Fast forward to 2023 and the tables have turned. It is now the candidate who has a minimum of three employers lined up for final interview, the candidate who knows they are likely to come away with three offers, and the candidate who knows they are in the driving seat.
What tipped the scales?
No single factor caused the imbalance of power; rather, it was widespread market pressures and a few issues specific to the profession. Demand for talent has simply outstripped supply, and actuaries know how to use this to their advantage.
Demand for actuarial talent has been unprecedented during the past few years, following a long period of sustained growth. The Actuary Jobs, for example, had 787 live job vacancies at the start of Q1 2023 – a 48.5% increase on the figure at the start of Q1 2013, which was 530. This insatiable demand is not limited to the actuarial profession; the overall UK labour market is witnessing off-the-scale demand, and reached a record number of vacancies in 2022.
The immense value that actuaries provide to employers has seen most firms increase headcount on a net positive basis, year on year. The 48.5% increase in demand between 2013 and 2023 is encouraging. The number of actuarial employers did not increase by anywhere near this figure during that period, indicating that growth in demand has been driven by existing firms expanding their actuarial headcount.
All areas of the profession have been implementing regulatory reforms (such as guaranteed minimum pension equalisation, IFRS 17 and the Financial Conduct Authority Pricing Review), and this has placed a huge burden on employers. These programmes are resourced through external hires and by seconding internal employees from their business-as-usual (BAU) roles. These programmes have directly fuelled demand by recruiting straight onto the programme, as well as indirectly, by backfilling secondees’ BAU roles.
The new need
Regulatory reforms aside, there has been plenty of additional demand from employers’ own internal programmes. The profession has been a hive of ingenuity and modernisation, with many employers establishing internal transformation programmes that cover systems, digitalisation and the embedding of machine learning and artificial intelligence.
On top of this, we’ve now started to feel the impacts of Brexit, which has cut off a constant and easy-to-access supply of European talent. While there are still ways to secure overseas actuaries, not all employers have taken to this, citing the cost and complexity involved.
It can feel as though people blame covid whenever something isn’t working in any part of society. However, two specific consequences of covid have impacted both ends of the actuarial profession. First, 2020 saw reduced levels of graduate intake, for obvious reasons. The impact of this reduction will bite later, although it is important to recognise the employers who went above and beyond to onboard new starters during lockdown.
A less talked-about consequence is the delayed retirement plans of many actuarial professionals – who would want to retire in the middle of a pandemic? The knock-on effect of this is that we are seeing higher levels of retirement in 2022-23, further reducing supply and valuable expertise.
Finally, we must acknowledge that the profession has started to suffer a greater level of attrition to ‘non-traditional’ actuarial fields – anything from gaming or gambling to data science. Notwithstanding the changing supply and demand dynamic, employees have capitalised on this, and it is partly why the shift in power has been so evident.
When I first started recruiting actuaries in 2010, LinkedIn was in its infancy, with a mere 65 million users. Fast forward to the end of 2022 and the site had 850 million users worldwide, including a large actuarial membership in the UK, all engaging with recruiters, employers and content around careers and their value.
Employers need to be fleet of foot to respond to the best candidates before they lose out
Post-pandemic, many employees have refreshed their attitudes towards work. Some have a new perspective on work-life balance, and renewed expectations of what employers should offer. In general, actuaries are more assured of their value than ever before, and have embraced the job-rich market with optimism and opportunism.
Post-pandemic pressures
The implications are far-reaching for employers, who have been navigating an unusually complex market for the past two years. In 2023, the biggest threat to employers’ talent strategy will not be failing to hire on time or to hire enough staff, but failing to retain their current workforce.
To remain on the front foot, employers should initiate conversations around employee rewards, career progression and skill development goals.
The impact of lower intake levels during the pandemic will be seen in 2023–24, especially for employers that predominantly recruit at the part-qualified level of three to five years. We have seen graduate recruitment increase dramatically across the market, driven by a greater degree of succession planning around key skills, predicted attrition rates and future projects.
The market will also see upward pressure on salaries – particularly external hires.
In 2022, we saw permanent employees achieve an average pay increase of 16.1% by changing employer.
One person who has seen the shift from an employer’s perspective is Jay Stewart, pricing and underwriting director at AA Insurance, who notes that market changes are forcing employers to engage with talent in a more agile way. “Employers used to see several strong candidates in a multi-stage interview process,” he says. “They now need to be fleet of foot to respond to the best candidates before they lose out to their competitors.”
Time for promotion?
The implications for employees, on the other hand, are overwhelmingly positive. They’ll have a better choice of roles, a better choice of employers, better remuneration, better flexibility, better interview processes and a better negotiating position with both new and current employers.
Those who are on the fence about changing jobs should be aware of the pitfalls. The market is busy and fast paced, and if you are not fully committed to your job search it may be overwhelming. Before investing time and energy into an external recruitment process, it is first advisable to talk with your current employer to resolve any concerns – rather than doing this when sitting on three or four offers from other employers.
Contractors have also benefited from an increase in employee power, although not on the scale of their permanent counterparts – the competition to secure a contract role is higher and, due to their project-led nature, roles often come in peaks and troughs. It is worth noting, however, that day rates have climbed steadily during the past few years, post-IR35.
The advice I would give to employees considering making a move in 2023 is: make the most of these unusual dynamics while you can, and set out on your search with clear objectives.
My top tips for employers recruiting in 2023 are: speed up and simplify your recruitment process, think of alternate ways to fill roles, and remember that candidates are interviewing you as well.
Austin Brislen is an associate director at Sellick Partnership
Image credit | iStock | Shutterstock
