The insurance industry has long made a priority of attracting, retaining and developing the best talent. Insurance businesses strive to reach this goal by making diversity and inclusion the centerpiece of their company culture.
At the 2016 Business Insurance Diversity & Inclusion Institute Leadership Conference insurance industry CEOs came together to sign a “commitment statement” embracing diversity and inclusion in the commercial sector. This statement pledged:
The world and our industry have never faced more change and opportunity than we do today. Diverse and inclusive teams have been proven to be more effective, and able to create better economic and social outcomes.
We are committed to driving diversity at all levels of our organizations by creating inclusive and engaging cultures that effectively serve our customers, shareholders, communities and people. By making meaningful progress on diversity in insurance, we can win the critical war for talent which will allow our companies and our industry to succeed.
We agree to come together in one year to check on our progress and make any updates necessary to this commitment.
From individual company programs to industry wide initiatives, insurance businesses are committed to promoting and advancing diversity in their business culture—in every sector and at all levels.
| Occupation | Total employed (in thousands) | Percent of total employed |
| Women | African | Asian | Hispanic or Latino | ||
| Total, 16 years and over | 151,436 | 46.8 | 11.9 | 6.1 | 16.7 |
| Business and financial operations occupations | 7,523 | 54.7 | 9.7 | 7.8 | 9.8 |
| Insurance carriers and related activities | 2,794 | 60.9 | 11.1 | 6 | 10 |
| Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners, and investigators | 349 | 62.2 | 15.1 | 1.6 | 12.7 |
| Insurance underwriters | 104 | 62.5 | 9.6 | 6.3 | 4.9 |
| Actuaries | 14 | - | - | - | - |
The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) has information on diversity in the workplace by industry, including insurance. It also has information on diversity by occupation, including insurance sales agents, claims adjusters, insurance claims and policy processing clerks, insurance underwriters and actuaries.
Women have made up about 61 percent of the insurance industry workforce in each year from 2006 to 2015, according to the Current Population Survey (CPS), an annual survey of business establishments in private industry conducted by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS). In 2015, there were 1.6 million women employed in the insurance sector, accounting for 59.4 percent of the 2.7 million workers in the insurance industry, according to the BLS.
| Occupation | Total employed (000) | Percent of women in that occupation |
| Insurance sales agents | 615 | 51.2% |
| Claims adjusters, appraisers, examiners and investigators | 321 | 55.3 |
| Insurance claims and policy processing clerks | 287 | 77.1 |
| Insurance underwriters | 107 | 58.6 |
| Acturaries | 21 | (1) |
