Claims adjuster employment is projected to shrink over the next decade, junior hiring has collapsed, and the workers’ compensation sector is running out of time to build a replacement pipeline. Two organizations are attempting to close that gap from an unconventional direction, launching a national career program targeting students whose families have firsthand experience of what a workplace injury costs.
Kids’ Chance of America (KCOA), based in Atlanta, Georgia, and Workers’ Compensation, Risk, Managed Care & Claims (WRMC), a US-based nonprofit, announced Kids’ Chance WORKS in November 2026. The program connects students affected by a parent’s serious workplace injury or death with mentors, structured training, and career entry points across workers’ compensation, risk management, managed care, and claims. Crawford & Company, also based in Atlanta, Georgia, is the first corporate partner to commit mentors to the initiative.
The workforce data framing the launch is specific. Job postings for claims adjusters have fallen approximately 55% from their post-pandemic peak, with junior-level postings down approximately 50% since early 2024, according to a Glassdoor Economic Research report published August 27, 2026, which analyzed claims adjuster job displacement trends using Indeed hiring data alongside Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) payroll figures.
The US Bureau of Labor Statistics Occupational Outlook Handbook, updated August 27, 2026, projects overall employment of claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators will decline 6% between 2025 and 2035, a net loss of 21,800 positions. Despite that projected decline, the BLS forecasts around 21,600 openings per year on average across the same period, all driven by workers leaving the profession rather than growth in demand.
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For brokers placing workers’ comp coverage, those numbers translate directly into placement decisions. Claims handling in this line requires state-specific compliance knowledge, medical management expertise, and return-to-work coordination - skills built over years in the field.
When experienced professionals exit faster than replacements arrive, turnaround times lengthen, case complexity goes unmanaged, and carriers with thinner benches become harder to recommend with confidence.
At renewal, clients who have dealt with poorly managed claims ask questions about carrier selection that brokers are increasingly hard-pressed to answer. As the workers’ comp market faces pressure from rising claim severity and medical costs, the depth of claims expertise behind a carrier’s operation is becoming a placement consideration alongside price, coverage terms, and appetite.
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Sedgwick’s 2026 Loss Adjusting Insights Report, published October 2026, identified rapid retirement among experienced claims professionals as one of eight major pressures reshaping claims operations, finding that carriers face declining capacity and rising claim complexity simultaneously. The institutional knowledge leaving with those professionals – on navigating multi-state compliance, managing older workforce injuries, and handling complex long-duration claims – takes years to rebuild once it has gone.
Brandi Lewis, WRMC executive board brand ambassador, said the program is designed to recruit from a population that has personal reasons to care about the outcome of workers’ comp claims.
“Like many sectors, the workers’ compensation and risk management industry is navigating an aging workforce and an urgent need to attract and develop the next generation of talent. This partnership allows us to introduce students to rewarding careers while connecting them with professionals who can help them build confidence and expand their networks,” Lewis said.
The program’s underlying premise is that students who have lived through a parent’s workplace injury arrive with an understanding of what the profession is for – something that cannot be taught in a classroom and that experienced adjusters typically develop only through years of casework.
Chris Letsos, president of KCOA, said financial aid alone has never solved the pipeline problem.
“A workplace injury affects an entire family. While scholarships help remove financial barriers, students also need opportunity, exposure, and connection as they begin building their futures. This partnership with WRMC creates pathways that simply didn’t exist before,” Letsos said.
Since its inception, Kids’ Chance of America has awarded more than 11,000 scholarships totaling nearly $45 million, according to the organization. Kids’ Chance WORKS is designed to extend that reach into professional placement and long-term career development within the workers’ compensation sector.
For brokers, the claims workforce contraction creates a question that belongs in carrier-selection conversations: how well-resourced is the claims operation behind the policy, and what happens when that client files a complex workers’ comp claim? As brokers increasingly use workers’ comp safety and claims data to sharpen their client advice, the capacity and experience depth of a carrier’s claims team is a differentiator that matters alongside price and coverage terms.
Nidhi Verma, chief people and ESG officer at Crawford & Company and a WRMC board member, said the company’s decision to contribute mentors reflects what the sector needs most from new professionals.
“Our industry needs thoughtful, hardworking and compassionate professionals, and many Kids’ Chance students already understand the profound impact workplace injuries can have on families. Through WRMC’s structured training and mentorship model, Crawford is proud to contribute mentors who will share their expertise and help students turn their perspectives, experiences and talents into meaningful careers,” Verma said.
WRMC is seeking mentors from across the workers’ compensation, risk management, managed care, and claims industries, as well as corporate partners and donors to fund future student cohorts. Inquiries can be directed to [email protected].
