What is the biggest talent challenge facing the insurance market right now?

Earlier this year, insurance business was here at the BIVA Conference 2026 to ask the industry's biggest questions to insurers, brokers, MGAs, associations and more. In this edition we ask what is the biggest talent challenge facing the insurance market right now? I would say probably having a multi-generational workforce. I think as a sector it's almost like a long happy marriage that people have had being in the sector. They've had long careers here and now we're facing almost a retirement cliff. So we need to ensure that as a sector we're bringing talent into the organisation, keeping talent in our sector and those who are looking to retire, they can mentor and support those coming into the sector to keep us moving. So I think the biggest talent challenge is that over the last few years we've lost some really strong experienced people from the industry, many taking early retirement or going on to do other things. I think what's really refreshing, however, is the quality of top talent that we've got coming through the industry. I think we need to get back to proper grassroots. I think there's a lot more that we can do at grassroots level to promote the industry. I also think that we've done a huge amount in terms of better, still more to do, but much better around gender balance. I just think there's a little more we can do around creating a bit more of an ethnicity balance in the industry. The biggest talent challenge from our perspective is probably still trying to actually get people the right behaviours and the right skill set into the industry. So we are desperate and we go along the apprenticeship route and so on like that, but to actually get somebody with a good technical understanding, it seems as though there is less and less people with that type of knowledge within the industry. And I think one of the things we're desperate to do is teach behaviours in many respects, because we can teach the technical stuff, we just need someone to come to us with that skill set of a want to learn. I think with talent, I think what you've got is a skill base that is built around the traditional model. So it's very much based around underwriting discipline, relationship-led distribution. And what we now need to do though is appeal to the changing dynamics of the market. So we need to encourage more data scientists, data engineers, but that brings extra challenges because those people are applicable across the entire economy. So it's how we encourage those into the insurance industry and give them an operational and cultural fit that they can work most effectively. So we have a distressingly small number of young people in the market. If you look at the data produced by the London Market Group recently, I think if we go on at the current rate, we'll have less than 7% of the market will be under 30 in 20 years' time. So that's something we need to address. We need to attract younger and more diverse talent pools to the market. It's something that we at Libra are very committed to and run a number of initiatives to help particularly our smaller members recruit from out of universities, out of schools into apprenticeship schemes. But we need to make sure that the future lifeblood of the market joins us and joins a fabulous industry. I think attracting young people into the insurance market, I think most people naturally fall into insurance. So, so much so we've launched an apprenticeship where we went to TikTok, believe it or not, four and a half thousand people applied and we whittled that down to 25. So young talent is really important. Trying to retain the young professionals in the industry. I feel like, and again, personally as well, it's not even about the salary anymore. Young people want to feel valued. They want to feel like they have growth opportunities within their company. They want to feel seen and heard as well. So I think having good mentors and people that are really valuing young professionals will help retain and keep them in and then also then have those young people then speak to other young people and bring them also into the industry. Especially if they see that growth and the good career opportunities. And again, I do think it's not all about salary with young people now. It's just that they want to feel validated and they want to enjoy what they're doing. So I think the biggest challenge is getting young people to want to come into insurance from the outside. It's not the sexiest industry in the world, but I think once people understand it is a really attractive proposition for young people. And I think there's a big, quite a big disconnect about how we sell ourselves. I think the way that Gen Z's want to come into the workplace is quite different. The way that they want to behave, the way they want to be treated. And if we still have kind of our old school insurance ways of doing things, then they won't feel welcome in the workplace. I think one thing is that we need to promote insurance as a really good career, as how flexible it is, you know, how exciting it can be, how diverse it is. That's the beginning. And then I think we need to look at our businesses because I think what's changed for me is that people now look at a business to think, will I work there? Do I want to work there? Have they got the right values? Will they, you know, look after me? Do they deliver a good service? So I think it's important that you have your business in order. I think if you have genuinely bought into things like social mobility, diversity and inclusion, you know, good values, that will pay off. And I think the other thing for me, which is really important is looking after those people you already have so that, you know, whether whatever ages they are, things are changing in the market. So we have to, you know, invest in them, make sure we keep them up to date, retrain them, educate them, you know, that sort of stuff. So we keep them, you know, kind of interested. They know that they're valued and they know how things are going. And we all kind of work together like that. So I think there's a few things in that area.