By Roger Lear
The insurance industry is on the brink of a massive talent shake-up. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that nearly 400,000 insurance professionals will retire by 2026, and companies are already struggling to fill those vacancies. (PropertyCasualty360). What this means for job seekers is simple: there has never been a better time to enter or advance within the insurance industry.
We have been hearing about this shortage for years! The numbers are finally showing that the avalanche of retirement is happening. It reminds me of the internet boom. Companies everywhere scrambled to build websites, launch online stores, and hire someone, anyone, who could code, design user experiences, or figure out server farms. Overnight, self-taught web developers and digital marketers went from hobbyists to highly coveted experts, commanding top salaries and stock options. This is precisely what is happening in the insurance industry today, and it is creating numerous opportunities. The gold rush of cool jobs is alive!
The insurance industry’s current talent shortage is the same “internet: playbook all over again, creating tremendous opportunity.
- Disruption Catalyst: Just as the internet upended retail and media, AI, data analytics, and remote-work models are upending how insurers underwrite risk, process claims, and serve customers. For those
- Early-Mover Advantage: Back in 2000, the first wave of web pros landed plum gigs because they’d already learned HTML and JavaScript. Today, the insurance companies that adopt generative AI and real-time risk modeling need talent who knows those tools, meaning candidates who upskill now will be first in line. And with AI, learning curves, certificates, and degrees can be obtained much quicker.
- New Career Lanes: Web development spun off entire ecosystems—for example, jobs in cybersecurity, UX design, SEO, DevOps. In insurance, you’re seeing parallel lanes open, AI-powered underwriting specialists, tele-adjusters conducting virtual inspections, and data-science teams building real-time fraud detectors.
The jobs in the insurance world just got sexy. Just as early web developers seized the dot-com moment, you can seize the insurance shake-up by:
- Getting Ahead of the Tech Curve. Learn the AI and analytics platforms insurers are investing in.
- Use AI to discover all the possibilities that don’t even exist yet. Research what is coming up using…you guessed it…AI. Ask ChatGPT to look into the future for what types of insurance jobs will look like. Here is a preview of some jobs on this list:
- AI Ethics & Risk Architect
- Climate Resilience Underwriting Specialist
- Cyber-Physical Systems Insurance Engineer
- Behavioral Data Insights Analyst
- Blockchain Smart-Contract Underwriter
- Positioning as a Change Agent: Frame yourself not just as “experienced in insurance,” but as someone who can lead the digital transformation of a traditional business. Do this by getting AI and technology certifications and training.
Disruption isn’t just a risk for incumbents, it’s a once-in-a-generation opening for candidates ready to ride the wave. Just like the dot-com era created careers out of coding curiosities, today’s insurance tech revolution can launch your next big career move.