The insurance sector is navigating ongoing hiring pressure and capability gaps, broadly in line with wider finance and accounting trends, as economic caution and evolving skills needs shape workforce planning.
A Robert Half expert told Insurance Business that while insurers are broadly aligned with other industries in how they are responding to workforce pressure, many are still in the early stages of defining what “future-ready” talent actually looks like.
“What we're seeing is that the insurance sector is largely in line with the broader finance and accounting landscape,” said Cal Jungwirth (pictured), director of permanent placement services in F&A at Robert Half. “Like other industries, insurance organizations are feeling tension between the ongoing demand for the skills they really need and a more cautious economic backdrop.”
That tension is shaping hiring behaviour. Even where demand for specialist skills remains high, many firms are hesitating to expand headcount or invest aggressively in new roles due to macroeconomic uncertainty and persistent cost pressures.
Jungwirth noted that this caution is influencing how organisations approach capability-building inside their existing workforce.
“This context helps explain why so few leaders feel fully equipped with the headcount and skills they need today, and why more than half are focused on upskilling existing teams.”
Rather than competing aggressively for scarce talent, many insurers are prioritising internal development. Upskilling has become the default response to capability gaps, particularly in finance, operations, and increasingly, technology-facing roles.
However, there is still no clear consensus on what those skills should be. While AI is frequently cited as a priority area, organisations are still working through how it translates into day-to-day insurance work.
“There’s broad agreement that upskilling is critical, but there’s less clarity on which skills to prioritize,” Jungwirth said. “AI is a big part of that conversation, but many organizations are still in the early stages of understanding how AI will impact their business and what practical skills employees actually need to develop.”
AI is increasingly part of discussions across underwriting, claims and other functions, but adoption remains uneven across carriers.
Some firms are experimenting with automation and decision support tools, while others are still focused on data readiness and system integration before they can scale AI use cases meaningfully.
Despite the rapid technological shift, Robert Half’s analysis suggests the insurance sector is not uniquely disrupted. Instead, it is moving in line with broader F&A trends.
“While the constraints are real (rising costs, skills gaps, and rapid technological change), insurance isn’t an outlier,” Jungwirth said. “It’s navigating the same challenges as the wider F&A space and trying to move forward on talent and skills in a moment where the path is still being defined.”
That framing is important. Rather than a sector-specific talent crisis, insurers are experiencing a structural workforce adjustment that is being accelerated (but not created) by AI.
In practical terms, this means organisations are balancing three competing pressures: maintaining operational efficiency, controlling costs, and building new capabilities for an AI-enabled future.
One of the more notable findings is not just the existence of a skills gap, but its ambiguity. Unlike previous technology shifts, where skills requirements were relatively well-defined, AI is still evolving fast enough that job roles and competencies remain fluid.
That creates a planning challenge for insurers. Investment in training risks becoming outdated quickly, while hesitation risks leaving organisations behind as competitors experiment with automation and analytics at scale.
The result is a cautious middle ground: incremental upskilling, selective hiring, and pilot-based AI adoption rather than wholesale transformation.
For now, the insurance talent story is more about transition than disruption. Firms are responding to similar pressures across industries, but the added complexity of regulated environments and legacy systems makes the shift slower and more fragmented.
While AI is expected to play a central role in reshaping insurance operations over the next decade, the workforce implications are still emerging.
As Jungwirth summarised, the industry is adapting – but without a fully defined endpoint.
Supporting the broader picture, Robert Half’s latest finance and accounting research shows how widespread the capability gap remains. Only 9% of F&A leaders said they currently have the necessary headcount and skill sets to deliver on priority projects this year, while 54% said they need to upskill existing team members.
