The Hindu Business Line : Insurers hiring at brisk pace

Private insurance companies such as ICICI Prudential Life, Bajaj Allianz and HDFC Standard Life have virtually doubled their employee strength in the past one year.

“The insurance industry figures among the top five recruiters in the country after the BPO- IT, banking and retail sectors. In the next five years, the insurance industry will be among the top three,” said Mr Shiv Agarwal, CEO, ABC Consultants.

ICICI Prudential has increased its staff strength from 16,000 to 30,000 over the last year and the company continues to hire aggressively.

Tie-up with institutes

It has tied up with 21 management institutes such as XLRI and Narsee Monjee Institute of Management Studies to offer post graduate diploma courses in insurance and management for freshers. The company has recruited 2,000 candidates through this route in the past six months, said Mr Judhajit Das, Head of Human Resources at ICICI Prudential Life Insurance.

While the fees for the course are borne by the student, ICICI Prudential provides guaranteed employment at the end of the one-year course.

Bajaj Allianz Life has around 28,000 employees and plans to hire a minimum 10,000 more in the next fiscal.

“As the insurance industry is growing rapidly, penetration into new geographies requires augmentation of sales force. Companies also need to enhance their support functions – marketing, finance and actuarial,” said Mr Sharad Gangal, General Manager, Human Resources, HDFC Standard Life. The company has hired 7,000 in the last calendar year and currently has around 14,000 employees.

No ready pool

Mr R. Mahajan, Head - HR and Training, SBI Life, said, “There is no ready pool of trained people and in the long run, insurers would have to actively look at campus recruitment and train freshers”

SBI Life has hired 300 freshers through campus recruitment over the past year. The company currently has 3,700 employees and plans to add 2,000 more in the next fiscal.

National Insurance Academy, Pune, one of the few institutes that offer an MBA in insurance, received 94 job offers for its 58 students.

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