If we could sum up M&A Insurance recruitment activity in the first half of this year in one word, it would be: manic! The continued growth in the global M&A market from the previously unprecedented levels of 2021 resulted in increasing volumes of recruitment mandates from the broking and underwriting community. Even the traditional hiring lulls through December and January never materialised, as the market remained incredibly buoyant.
Currently the biggest challenge for the sector in the UK is the finite talent pool. The domestic market is facing a human capital crisis, many of the local and traditional talent pools having been exhausted. The insurance industry is competing not only internally for talent but also with both the in-house market and the professional services firms. The ‘Great Resignation’ that followed the pandemic combined with our post-Brexit lack of ability to easily recruit European candidates has created a fierce bidding war for the remaining, eligible talent. The natural talent pools like law firms and the Big 4 are also struggling to grow meaning they have sharpened their focus on staff retention. We have seen record levels of base salary increases (out of company bandwidths) and significant bonuses being paid out in a bid to hold onto staff. Promotional moves, sign-on and guaranteed minimum bonuses are also becoming more and more common in a bid to differentiate from the rest of the competition. The candidate is in the driving seat when it comes to salary negotiation, most are receiving multiple offers across a range of opportunities. With the cost of living crisis an increasing consideration in the UK it’s unsurprising that (particularly junior) candidates are salary motivated.
We’ve been working closely with our clients to offer alternatives, encouraging them to expand their horizons and attract talent they might not previously have considered. For example, being open-minded to considering accounting-based candidates over increasingly expensive lawyers, can quickly expand the talent pool and bring highly valuable skill sets to a role. Many clients are now reconsidering options they would have previously disregarded – onboarding a reasonable relevant skill set such as Big 4 transactional background, is proving a better option if it means hiring tier 1 talent without having an onerous impact on their bottom line.
One trend which has been helping to counter the current skills shortage is a noticeable uptick in clients willing to sponsor candidates into the UK. SRM has been supporting numerous clients through this process to enable them to hire talent to their teams, providing the right combination of skills, talent and languages required.
Employers looking to take this hiring route need to be aware – there is currently a huge backlog of immigration in the UK. What used take around 6-12 weeks, is now taking closer to 12-24 – so be prepared for worst case scenario. Ensure your timescales when it comes to interviewing, hiring and onboarding have factored in these delays, which ultimately are out of all of your control and sit firmly with the government.
Our advice for hiring managers – consider your timeframes around hiring, especially if you’re looking to bring in from abroad, and don’t leave hiring to the last minute (hire for tomorrow, not today!). Given the paucity of available talent it’s also important to manage expectations around the number of CVs you will see on a shortlist. When you identify a strong candidate, we recommend you move to offer quickly. Average time to hire is very short right now, some processes have been as short as 1-2 weeks. Savvy hiring managers are honing in on good candidates and moving quickly to secure them.
Our advice for candidates – if you’ve previously disregarded the UK as an option, you should reconsider. There are opportunities in the UK with employers willing to sponsor candidates to secure the skills they so desperately need. But it’s important to manage your expectations on timeframes when it comes to the immigration process. This is fully in the government’s control, so ensure you work closely with your employer and immigration lawyers and have all your paperwork up to date to help the process run as smoothly as possible.
For UK qualified lawyers looking to move into M&A Insurance be aware that the industry may not be able to compete with law firm salaries for year 1. You should remain focused on the broader offerings of the industry and your ability to grow your overall compensation package in the short term.
Given that we’ve now hit the summer holidays, we are seeing a more traditional slowdown in hiring activity for this time of year. All of those ‘normal’ recruitment trends have largely been ignored over the last 18 months as clients were ‘desk-bound’ and teams overworked throughout the pandemic, but things seem to be normalising and we’re returning to previous trends. Our expectation for H2 is that levels of activity will slow marginally from the highs of H1, but we don’t expect them to slow to pre-pandemic levels.
Get In Touch
To get help with your recruitment process or job search, please do get in touch with Rory MacSween today on +44 (0)7960 983331, email rorymacsween@srmrecruitment.com or connect with him on LinkedIn.