If you are a looking for a job in insurance, it certainly pays to keep up with the news to know where the job cuts are most severe, and where there are still opportunities.

You also need to be aware what the bigger picture is: February’s job figures compounded the stiff challenge to the insurance jobs industry faces as a further 6,200 positions were lost. Overall unemployment now stands at 8.1% which is the highest since December 1983, with President Obama declaring the numbers “astounding”

So which insurance job sectors have been hit hardest, and which the least?
(comparing January 2009 to January 2008)

Winners

Sector	Change	Previous #	Current #	Difference
Health insurance jobs	4.50%	437,608	457,300	19,692
Reinsurance jobs	2.50%	28,390	29,100	710
Life insurance jobs	0.30%	53,041	53,200	159

Losers

Sector	Change	Previous #	Current #	Difference
Title insurance jobs	-19.40%	83,499	67,300	-16,199
3rd party administration jobs	-3.80%	130,457	125,500	-4,957
Claims adjuster jobs	-3.80%	53,696	52,300	-1,396
Agents & brokers jobs	-1.70%	669,888	658,500	-11,388
Property/casualty jobs	-1.50%	489,746	482,400	-7,346

Considering the size of each sector, its clear that health insurance jobs pose the best opportunity based on the movement of jobs over the past year, and title insurers, due to the link with property and the sub-prime crisis, have fared the worst.

Recovery?

It is evident that each sector will be affected in a different manner as the recession rides out, and hard to predict which sectors will recover first – based on both the recovery of the insurance industry, which is linked to the smaller sectors and the overall employment industry, which is linked more to property/casualty, agents & brokers.

Futher Reading

Additional figures at Insurance Newsnet

Bureau of Labor statistics

Forbes article on insurance sector performance