Insurance industry employment
The insurance industry is a major U.S. employer, providing some 2.98 million jobs in 2023 that encompass a wide variety of careers, including engineering and data science, human resources, public relations, and financial analysts. Some jobs, including claims adjusters, actuaries and insurance underwriters, are unique to the insurance industry. But other roles are also needed, such as art historians and drone pilots. For further information, consult the Bureau of Labor Statistics’ Occupational Outlook Handbook, which includes these entries:
- Actuaries
- Claims adjusters appraisers examiners and investigators
- Insurance sales agents
- Insurance underwriters
Employment In Insurance, 2014-2023
(Annual averages, 000)
| Insurance carriers | Insurance agencies, brokerages and related services | |||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Direct insurers (1) | ||||||||
| Year | Life and health (2) | Property/ casualty | Reinsurers | Total | Insurance agencies and brokers | Other insurance- related activities (3) | Total | Total industry |
| 2014 | 829.0 | 594.7 | 25.1 | 1,448.7 | 720.0 | 297.1 | 1,017.1 | 2,465.8 |
| 2015 | 829.8 | 611.6 | 25.1 | 1,466.5 | 762.8 | 309.1 | 1,071.8 | 2,538.3 |
| 2016 | 818.9 | 643.5 | 25.3 | 1,487.7 | 783.5 | 321.5 | 1,105.0 | 2,592.7 |
| 2017 | 850.4 | 639.7 | 26.6 | 1,516.7 | 809.6 | 333.3 | 1,142.9 | 2,659.6 |
| 2018 | 882.8 | 629.5 | 28.6 | 1,540.9 | 825.6 | 346.2 | 1,171.8 | 2,712.7 |
| 2019 | 931.2 | 650.3 | 28.6 | 1,610.1 | 842.8 | 349.5 | 1,192.2 | 2,802.3 |
| 2020 | 945.6 | 653.9 | 27.6 | 1,627.1 | 856.5 | 352.3 | 1,208.8 | 2,835.9 |
| 2021 | 908.7 | 646.9 | 28.1 | 1,583.7 | 886.6 | 354.5 | 1,241.2 | 2,824.9 |
| 2022 | 900.9 | 684.9 | 30.2 | 1,616.0 | 934.8 | 367.2 | 1,302.0 | 2,918.0 |
| 2023 (4) | 912.3 | 680.5 | 30.9 | 1,623.8 | 963.0 | 388.6 | 1,351.6 | 2,975.3 |
(1) Establishments primarily engaged in initially underwriting insurance policies.
(2) Includes establishments engaged in underwriting annuities, life insurance and health and medical insurance policies.
(3) Includes claims adjusters, third-party administrators of insurance funds and other service personnel such as advisory and insurance ratemaking services.
(4) Preliminary.
Source: U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Women in insurance
In 2023, women accounted for 47 percent of all workers, based on data from households in the Current Population Survey (CPS), an annual survey of business establishments in private industry conducted by the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). Data indicates 1.7 million women were employed in the insurance industry—59.4 percent of the total 2.9 million insurance workers. In fact, women have comprised about 60 percent of the industry workforce each year since 2012. However, representation varies across occupations, such as sales agents (54.9 percent) and claims and policy clerks (80.1 percent).
Women In Insurance, 2023
| Occupation | Total employed (000) | Percent of women in that occupation |
|---|---|---|
| Insurance claims and policy processing clerks | 308 | 80.1% |
| Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners and investigators | 362 | 55.2 |
| Insurance underwriters | 108 | 56.9 |
| Insurance sales agents | 632 | 54.9 |
| Actuaries | 43 | (1) |
(1) Data not shown where base is less than 50,000.
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Current Population Survey. http://www.bls.gov/cps/cpsaat11.htm
Diversity in the workplace
The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has information on diversity in the workplace by industry, including insurance. (See Insurance carriers and related activities under the Financial activities heading). Additionally, BLS has information on diversity by occupation, including insurance sales agents, claims adjusters, insurance claims and policy processing clerks, insurance underwriters and actuaries here.
Remote Workers
Remote working continues to be prevalent as 56 percent of full-time U.S. employees, more than 70 million workers, said their job could be done working remotely from home, according to Gallup. Five in 10 are working a hybrid schedule (part of their week at home and part on-site), three in 10 are exclusively working remotely, and two in 10 are working entirely on site.
In an informal survey conducted by Triple-I in October 2022 of employees of its member companies, of which 164 responses were received, 41 percent of survey participants reported currently working an average of 5 days per week remotely. Additionally, a combined 68 percent of participants said they work remotely more than three days a week.
In 2021, 15 million Americans, or 9.7 percent of the U.S. workforce, said they worked from home, in contrast to 5.8 million in 2010, or 4.1 percent of the workforce, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. (See “COMMUTING TO WORK” section and sub-section “Worked from home.”)
