Recently, the Northeast and Midwest have been blasted with severe snowstorms, a cold reminder that natural disasters have been making major headlines over the past several years. Hurricanes, tsunamis and earthquakes are just some of the catastrophes that have claimed lives and wreaked havoc on communities. In August 2005, Hurricane Katrina tore through New Orleans, causing an estimated $81.2 billion in damages to become the costliest natural disaster in U.S. history. A bulletin on the Web site for the World Health Organization described 2005 as the year of natural disasters.
Though no one knows for certain what will happen in 2008 and beyond, it is the role of the insurance industry to analyze the data and develop probabilities about the number, location and probable impact of catastrophes. As more sophisticated tools and products emerge to assist with that objective, the industry appears poised for strong growth in many new sectors. The Bureau of Labor estimates that insurance-carrier employment will increase 9.5 percent and add 215,000 new jobs by 2015, while broker jobs within agencies are expected to jump 19.5 percent (although that growth is also related to the healthcare demands of the aging population).Â
Already, the insurance industry has experienced growth of traditional roles such as underwriter /risk management, agent, broker, and claims management and operations positions. In recent years, the analytical tools that help predict risk – such as pinpointing coastal neighborhoods that have a higher probability of being struck by a hurricane or how many ice storms will hit the Midwest – have become highly sophisticated, which also has opened up more specialized jobs within the industry. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, six out of 10 actuaries – who, in the insurance industry, focus on probability, price, product and all of the related financial implications of each segment of work in insurance. Employment of actuaries is expected to increase by about 24 percent to 2016, which is much faster than the average for all other occupations.Â
The actuarial segment is just one aspect of the emerging employment picture for the insurance industry, which will undoubtedly continue to be influenced by the changing financial markets, product sophistication, changing population demographics and –of course — natural disasters in the years to come. And as that happens, unprecedented career opportunities will follow as the industry evolves in order to better respond to them.
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Posted by Lucas Group Marketing