Insurance Carriers Are Already Operating in a Different Workforce Model

Spend time inside an insurance carrier today and one thing becomes clear pretty quickly:

The workforce has already changed.

Not in theory in how work actually gets done. The traditional model built almost entirely on full-time employees has shifted into something more blended. Work now sits across three lanes: full-time talent, AI, and flexible workforce.

And it’s not being driven by strategy decks. It’s being driven by reality.

The industry is aging fast. Roughly a quarter of the workforce is over 55, and a significant portion of that group is nearing retirement. The often-cited number hundreds of thousands of workers exiting over the next few years matches what carriers are feeling every day: open roles that stay open, thinner benches, and less experienced teams.

The pipeline behind them isn’t replacing what’s leaving. And in insurance, experience isn’t interchangeable underwriting judgment and complex claims expertise take years to build.

At the same time, the work itself is shifting.

AI is now embedded across claims, servicing, and parts of underwriting. It’s speeding up cycle times and absorbing a lot of the repeatable work that used to require headcount.