Skip to main content
The Actuary: The magazine of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries - return to the homepage Logo of The Actuary website
  • Search
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on Facebook
  • Visit The Actuary Magazine on LinkedIn
  • Visit @TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Visit the website of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries Logo of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries

Main navigation

  • News
  • Features
    • General Features
    • Interviews
    • Students
    • Opinion
  • Topics
  • Knowledge
    • Business Skills
    • Careers
    • Events
    • Predictions by The Actuary
    • Whitepapers
    • Moody's - Climate Risk Insurers series
    • Webinars
    • Podcasts
  • Jobs
  • IFoA
    • CEO Comment
    • IFoA News
    • People & Social News
    • President Comment
  • Archive
Quick links:
  • Home
  • The Actuary Issues
  • January 2014
01

Employers fear actuary 'brain drain' as job market recovers

Open-access content Monday 13th January 2014 — updated 5.13pm, Wednesday 29th April 2020

More than a third of employers in the insurance and actuarial sectors fear they could lose talented individuals as the UK job market begins to recover, according to a survey by recruiters Reed

2

Reed's annual Salary and market insight report polled 2,500 employers and workers, highlighting UK employment trends on factors including job security, satisfaction and whether workers are looking to move. 

It found that 35% of insurance and actuarial employers fear they will lose talented staff this year, while almost a quarter (23%) of people working in these sectors said they were looking to move jobs.

Static pay and reduced benefits in terms of bonuses, training and entertainment were named as the main causes of concern for employees. More than a third (37%) of employees said they received no incentives at all in 2013, while 60% of insurance and actuarial employees did not receive a pay rise.

Despite this, 91% of the insurance and actuarial workers said they felt secure or vey secure in their roles.

Reed urged firms to invest in their workforce. 'As the economy continues to strengthen and job opportunities rise, the competition for quality candidates will increase, and businesses can't afford to lose out,' said Tom Lovell, group managing director at Reed.

'Despite a need to attract and retain talent within their organisation, many businesses aren't investing in their workforce through pay or their benefits, such as training, and this will impact on the overall satisfaction rating for their workforce. Businesses need to invest in both their employee brand reputation and talent management to attract people with the right skills to their organisation and hold on to employees with the right talent.'

Figures from Reed also reveal that across the whole economy, job opportunities increased by 28% year-on-year, but the proportion of businesses with a talent strategy remained low at only 38%. The recruiter added that 'none of the organisations questioned had changed their approach or put new incentives in place to support workers in this competitive environment.'

Commenting on Reed's findings, Hugh Nolan, chief actuary at JLT Employee Benefits, agreed that firms in the sector should look after good staff.

He told The Actuary: 'If you look at the industry stats for the insurance and actuarial sector they show 88% are satisfied with their role compared to 70% in their survey overall. So, we're doing significantly better than a majority of employers.'

Asked if he was fearful of staff leaving, Nolan said he always worried about losing good people but didn't see a particular reason for them to leave.

'We always try and put people in roles that are suitable for them. I think people enjoy using their skills appropriately, so people who have trained for a long time to be an actuary want to be able to use those skills.'


This article appeared in our January 2014 issue of The Actuary.
Click here to view this issue
Filed in
01
Topics
General Insurance

You might also like...

Share
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Linked in
  • Mail
  • Print

Latest Jobs

Catastrophe Modelling Analyst - London Market Broker

London, England
£40000 - £50000 per annum
Reference
145925

Senior Catastrophe Analyst

England, London
£65000 - £75000 per annum
Reference
145924

Life Actuary - Financial Reporting - Day Rate contract

Negotiable
Reference
145923
See all jobs »
 
 

Today's top reads

 
 

Sign up to our newsletter

News, jobs and updates

Sign up

Subscribe to The Actuary

Receive the print edition straight to your door

Subscribe
Spread-iPad-slantB-june.png

Topics

  • Data Science
  • Investment
  • Risk & ERM
  • Pensions
  • Environment
  • Soft skills
  • General Insurance
  • Regulation Standards
  • Health care
  • Technology
  • Reinsurance
  • Global
  • Life insurance
​
FOLLOW US
The Actuary on LinkedIn
@TheActuaryMag on Twitter
Facebook: The Actuary Magazine
CONTACT US
The Actuary
Tel: (+44) 020 7880 6200
​

IFoA

About IFoA
Become an actuary
IFoA Events
About membership

Information

Privacy Policy
Terms & Conditions
Cookie Policy
Think Green

Get in touch

Contact us
Advertise with us
Subscribe to The Actuary Magazine
Contribute

The Actuary Jobs

Actuarial job search
Pensions jobs
General insurance jobs
Solvency II jobs

© 2023 The Actuary. The Actuary is published on behalf of the Institute and Faculty of Actuaries by Redactive Publishing Limited. All rights reserved. Reproduction of any part is not allowed without written permission.

Redactive Media Group Ltd, 71-75 Shelton Street, London WC2H 9JQ