The term millennial has been a buzzword for quite some time, and we’re starting to hear more about the next generation coming into the workforce, Generation Z. But what are these generations looking for when it comes to employers, and what do they think about the insurance industry as a career? We interviewed three industry experts in these generations to see what they thought about everything from work environments to the state of insurance and the future. We also surveyed young professionals in the industry to see what they had to say.

This article is the first in a series focused on our latest research. Get a glimpse of what these young people are looking for and the perspectives they bring to the industry to help push it forward with technology.

Driving Digital Transformation

Millennials and Gen Zers were born between 1981 and 2012. That is a significant gap in years, but these generations share a deep connection with technology and an expectation for quick and easy digital experiences. With 96% of our survey respondents saying that tech has positively impacted insurance workflows, they overwhelmingly recognize progress. They also see room for improvement with technology adoption in the industry.

Listen to Raghav Tanna, Applied SVP of small commercial, talk about the importance of the industry adopting tech.

“The insurance industry does a lot of things right. One thing they can work on is adopting technology…”

How to Keep Millennial and Gen Z Loyalty

While we did see some differences between millennial and Gen Z responses, they’re looking for similar things with company culture. Some crave in-office collaboration time, but most surveyed prefer remote and hybrid options. Collaboration is essential to both generations, but they ranked phone calls as the last resort when it comes to communication. They’d much rather chat on Slack, hop on a Zoom call, have a face-to-face conversation, or even communicate via email. Transparency is critical to our survey respondents. And they see room for growth with transparency in the industry.

Listen to Mamadou Bah, business development manager at RT Specialty, as he describes the ideal work environment.

“I think hybrid is the most productive work environment. We can’t forget about being in the office because culture is very important. I think it’s important to come into an office 1-2 days a week.”

To the Future of Insurance

The current state of insurance doesn’t always deliver the instant gratification that millennials and Gen Zers seek. In our interviews and survey, our respondents let us know there is an opportunity for quicker and easier experiences, more transparency, greater collaboration, and improved industry perception to continue attracting young talent.

Listen to Cassandra Koegel, Commercial Lines producer at Eastern Insurance and MAIA Young Agents Committee co-chair, talk about changing the perception of insurance.

“The one thing I would like to see improved is the perception. I recently spoke to a high school and asked what they think insurance is. They said very nicely they thought it was a bunch of old people sitting behind a desk. The one thing I want to see change is them realizing that’s not the case.”

This is what some of our survey respondents had to say:

• “Probably a lot more of a digital, online or over-the-phone experience rather than in-person offices.”

• “It will definitely be more analytics-driven in order to maximize premium revenue and speed up the claims process.”

• “Inclusion of AI will create more jobs to keep up with the AI and the less need of human interaction for reports.”

• “I think the future will be more digital as we get away from paper and more business will be done virtually.”

• “Agents will still be a key component since human experience will be crucial to adequate coverage.”

Reach These Tech-Savvy Generations

We’re just scratching the surface here. Find out where Gen Zers and millennials want to see more innovation, steps you can take to reach these generations, and more stats in our latest research. Watch your inbox and the Ivans blog for more in this series on how to reach the rising generations in insurance.