Farmers Insurance the latest insurer to return employees to the office
While many Americans happily celebrate the three-year anniversary of working from home, and despite persistent labor shortages, some property and casualty insurers are mandating a return to the office.
Farmers Insurance recently informed its employees that anyone located within 50 miles of a Farmers’ office is required to be in that office at least three days a week beginning in September.
Headquartered in Los Angeles, Farmers is a private company. The insurer writes more than 19 million individual insurance policies across all 50 states through nearly 48,000 exclusive and independent agents and approximately 21,000 employees, according to the Farmers’ LinkedIn profile.
The move back to the office will allow employees to work together again in person, said Luis Sahagun, director, external communications for Farmers.
“We believe this will drive greater collaboration, creativity and innovation while also providing better opportunities for learning, training, mentoring and career development,” he wrote in an emailed statement. “Over the course of the next few months, we’ll be finalizing details and working with our teams to make this transition smooth.”
Meanwhile, P&C insurers continue to battle fiercely for talent to fill positions such as underwriter, claims adjuster and agent. Lengthy employment ads can be found for these positions in nearly every urban area.
Working from home is proving to be an attractive and popular perk for employment seekers. Many workers value the flexibility, while others are happy to shed a stressful commute to the office.
Mary Schmid is a consultant who works with businesses on communication and leadership training. She authored the book, “Make or Break Conversations: How Smart Financial Professionals Land New Clients and Keep Them for Life.”
Schmid is not convinced that in-person collaboration should be a high priority.
InsuranceNewsNet Senior Editor John Hilton covered business and other beats in more than 20 years of daily journalism. John may be reached at john.hilton@innfeedback.com. Follow him on Twitter @INNJohnH.
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