The publication of the report ROMA 2024, at the beginning of November, offers a valuable insight into the evolution of insurance professions. By comparing it with the lessons of the 2023 report, it becomes possible to measure the movements of the professional population and to assess their adequacy in the face of the major challenges of the sector: digitalization, the rise of new risks, and the attractiveness of talent.
With 10,000 jobs created in ten years, the sector continues to grow, but rapid changes in strategic priorities, such as adapting to technologies or responding to new customer expectations, require a finer allocation of resources (GPEC). This article explores how these changes are reflected in business populations, based on the key figures and trends identified by reports from France insurers.
HR summary note for the insurance sector
- What are the key figures for insurance businesses? In insurance, 92.8% of employees have permanent contracts, and 52.9% are managers. The sector is distinguished by a strong culture of continuing vocational training, with an access rate of 90.6% in 2023. Attracting talent also involves apprentices, who represent 23.5% of recruitments. However, the average age of 42.5 highlights a generational issue, with nearly one employee out of five being over 55.
- What are the main population movement trends in insurance? Indemnification (+2.1%) and information systems (+3.2%) businesses are growing, while customer relationships (-4.8%) and asset management (-3.8%) are recording decreases in their headcount.
- What are the HR challenges that teams face? HR supports technological transformations, supports professional retraining and reinforces the commitment of employees in a context of generational diversity and organizational changes.
HR identity card for the insurance sector
The insurance sector in France had 157,100 employees in June 2023, with a majority of managers and a strong presence in permanent contracts. However, it faces demographic challenges and significant changes in the distribution of jobs.
Global headcount
- 157,100 employees to June 2023, including 145,790 in CDI (92.8%).
- Growth of 5% of the workforce over the last 10 years.
- More than 10,000 jobs created over the last decade.
Demographic characteristics
- 52.9% of managers, compared to 19% for the entire French working population.
- Average age: 42.5 years.
- Increase in employees of +55 years, going from 24,660 to 27,830 in 10 years, representing 18% of the total population.
Recruitment and work-study
- 23.5% of recruitments are alternates, who now represent 4.6% of the workforce.
- 61% of hires on a permanent contract.
Turnover and mobility
- 12.3% turnover in 2023, up by nearly 4 points over 10 years.
- 30% of managers under 35 express a desire for internal mobility.
Distribution of employees by profession
The OPCO Atlas and France Insurers distinguish 2 types of population, employees in “core” insurance jobs, and “support” jobs, here is their breakdown:
- Core business: 106,100 employees (67.5% of the workforce)
- Distribution and commercial development: 57,000
- Indemnification and support: 28,000
- Customer relationships and insurance transactions: 13,000
- Design and adaptation of the offer: 6,000
- Asset Management: 2,000
- Support jobs : 51,000 employees (33.5% of the workforce)
- Information systems and digital transformation: 15,000
- Economic, accounting and financial management: 8,000
- Work environment and team support: 7,000
- Organization and transformation projects: 6,000
- Risk management and control: 3,000
- Human resources: 3 900
- Legal advice and general secretariat: 2,000
- Company management - profit centers: 1 800
- Communication and multimedia: 1,700
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The 5 HR challenges of the insurance sector
1. Strategic planning and talent management
The insurance sector offers a unique opportunity to invest in strategic HR planning, in response to the multiple transformations under way: digitalization, increasing adoption of AI, new regulations, aging of the workforce, and challenges of attractiveness and retention.
Take the example of the “marketing” business division, which brings together the Distribution and commercial development as well as the Customer relationships and insurance transactions. Although 36% of recruitments are focused on salespeople, there is a gradual rebalancing towards customer relationship jobs. However, the latter are experiencing marked fluctuations: after a growth of +900 employees between 2022 and 2023, the population fell by 660 employees in 2024.
These variations, combined with high turnover among salespeople (11%), weigh on recruitment efforts and divert HR resources from other critical functions, such as product design or risk management. However, in a context where climate, technological (cybersecurity) and behavioral issues are redefining the priorities of the sector, these jobs appear to be strategic.
HR impacts:
The alignment of skills in a rapidly changing sector, under the effect of AI and market changes, requires targeted management of recruitment and internal mobility. With a retention rate of 12.3%, compared to a national average of 15% (source INSEE), the insurance sector faces a strategic challenge: to strengthen talent retention while proactively renewing its resources.
2. Managing redundancies and optimizing productivity
The presence of duplicates in certain administrative and support functions, as a result of the various groupings of companies in the insurance landscape, constitutes a challenge for maintaining productivity. Businesses must redeploy to high-stakes jobs, while maintaining the social climate.
HR impacts:
Faced with this challenge, HR can explore solutions such as the promotion of internal mobility, the implementation of training programs to support professional retraining, or even the negotiation of voluntary departures, in order to reconcile optimizing the workforce and maintaining a positive social climate.
3. Coherence of information systems
Successive groupings within the sector make it critical to unify information systems to ensure operational efficiency and the fluidity of processes.
HR impacts:
HR teams train employees in new digital tools and ensure their optimal adoption enterprise-wide.
4. Management of specialization and transversal projects
In a sector where the specialization of professions is essential, it is becoming crucial to maintain a balance between business expertise and the ability to work on transversal projects.
HR impacts:
HR encourages the development of transversal skills, interdisciplinary collaboration and the creation of bridges between specializations, promoting career management fluid and scalable.
5. Maintaining corporate culture and commitment
Each merger or acquisition is a major cultural challenge. The differences between the organizational cultures of the merged entities can dilute values or, on the contrary, offer the opportunity to build new ones. These dynamics are amplified by increasingly marked intergenerational collaboration, in particular with the increasing integration of work-study students into the workforce. With 7,360 work-study students now representing 4.7% of the total workforce, a figure that is constantly increasing, insurance companies must deal with up to four generations working together.
HR impacts:
Harmonizing organizational cultures requires the valorization of common values and the strengthening of intergenerational collaboration. Clear communication and the active involvement of employees in a shared project support commitment and minimize tensions.
Key figures on the evolution of insurance populations
Comparative evolution of professional populations between 2023 and 2023 - 2024
From the numbers of France insurers of November 2024, below we trace the movements compared between recent periods, then draw an overview of the professions whose population is increasing and those whose workforce is decreasing.
The “core” jobs in insurance
The populations of the “core” trades show heterogeneous trends, some evolving in opposite directions from one year to the next.
- Distribution and commercial development : After a drop in 1.6% in 2022—23, this population rebounded significantly with an increase of 4.5% in 2023-2024, reflecting increased strategic priority on this function.
- Indemnification and support : The only “core” population to grow steadily over two years: +1.6% in 2022—23 and +2.1% in 2023-2024, indicating stable needs in claims management.
- Customer relationships and insurance transactions : Reversed dynamic with a sharp rise in +7.2% in 2022—23 followed by a decrease in -4.8% in 2023-2024, reflecting an adjustment in resources.
- Design and adaptation of the offer : After a remarkable growth of +10.4% in 2022—23, progress slowed to +0.8% in 2023-2024, marking a stabilization of the teams.
- Asset Management : Marked change with an increase of +8% in 2022—23, followed by a contraction of -3.8% in 2023-2024, illustrating a rationalization of the workforce.
Insurance “support” jobs
Support jobs also reveal significant variations, with some populations showing stability, while others alternate between growth and reduction.
- Information systems and digital transformation : Continued growth with +1.8% in 2022—23 and +3.2% in 2023-2024, confirming the strategic importance of digitalization.
- Economic, accounting and financial management : Moderate growth of +2.3% in 2022—23 followed by a contraction of -3.1% in 2023-2024, signaling an optimization of resources.
- Legal advice and general secretariat : Steady growth over two years: +7.1% in 2022—23 and +3.5% in 2023-2024, reflecting an increase in regulatory needs.
- Human resources : A slight increase in +2.3% in 2022—23 followed by a decrease in -2% in 2023-2024, signalling stabilization after adjustments.
These developments highlight fluctuating strategic priorities. While some critical functions such as information systems are experiencing sustained growth, others, such as asset management or financial management, are experiencing occasional rationalizations.
Overview of changes in the insurance workforce by business line
Occupations related to commercial growth, at the digitalization, and to legal needs show notable increases, while jobs that focus on administrative functions or more traditional operational roles, such as customer relations or economic management, are recording decreases.
Growing jobs:
- Business or profit center management : +4.6%
- Distribution and commercial development : +4.5%
- Legal advice and general secretariat : +3.5%
- Information systems and digital transformation : +3.2%
- Indemnification and support services : +2%
- Organization and transformation projects : +1.1%
- Design and adaptation of the offer : +0.8%
Jobs in decline:
- Customer relationships and insurance transactions : -4.8%
- Economic, accounting and financial management : -3.1%
- Work environment and team support : -2.2%
- Human resources : -2%
- Risk management and control : -0.6%
- Asset Management : -3.8%
- Communication and multimedia design : -4.3%
Internal mobility in the insurance sector
Mobility in the insurance sector is listed according to whether it is called “internal” or external (departures). Average mobility represented 12.7% of the population between 2022 and 2023; it decreased to 9.8% between 2023 and 2024.
These internal mobilities For their part, they concern a majority of managers (71%) and mainly those under 55 (85%).
Here is the comparative evolution of the business areas that benefit the most from these internal developments are:
Perspectives: the impacts of AI on insurance professions.
Artificial intelligence (AI) is now positioned as a major catalyst for transformation in the insurance sector, redefining roles, activities, and skills.
Like the Financial Department and 4 scenarios for the evolution of its businesses, the main roles within this sector will be either:
- Threatened : These jobs involve standardized tasks, few customizations, they are subject to strict regulatory constraints and do not have to deal with varied contexts.
- Complemented by AI : these jobs are characterized by strong personalization, adaptation to changing contexts, a wide range of skills are essential. Here, AI can improve efficiency by providing insights based on rich data.
- Protégés : These jobs focus on emotional skills, empathy, and human relationships, which AI cannot replicate.
- Created : AI is creating new jobs, such as AI engineers, AI ethicists, data managers, to assess, develop, and guide AI technologies.
These hypotheses make it possible to understand the priority areas of intervention for HR, while identifying the activities where human-AI collaboration can produce the most added value.
AI acts as a structuring lever for change for HR. The challenge is not only to automate, but to build effective human-machine collaboration. To do this, businesses must:
- Prioritize key competencies: Identify resilient and stable skills to invest in their development.
- Support employees: Establish reskilling programs towards skills enriched by AI, promoting smooth professional transitions.
- Rethinking resource allocation: Alignment of HR efforts to support critical and strategic jobs.
In the end, AI in HR is not limited to redrawing the contours of jobs, but acts as a vector of opportunity to transform processes, strengthen skills, and ensure better resilience of organizations in the face of the challenges of the future.
