The needles are off of the Christmas tree, presents are alreadyused, broken or returned, and now it's time to dump the flatchampagne and face the gray dawn of 2011. Or is it still 2010?There doesn't seem to be much difference.

December's job numbers were so disappointing that the stockmarket took a hit. Sales of existing homes late in the year felllower than expected, spurring fears of a new wave of mortgagedefaults. And Fitch and other sources are predicting another flatyear for insurance pricing.

But things aren't all bleak. According to Swiss Re, althoughprofits will remain under pressure in 2011, prospects are good forinsurance companies, with growth expected to accelerate. “Thecrisis is over for the insurance industry,” said chief economistThomas Hess in an interview with Dow Jones Newswires. “There aresome after-shocks that need to be digested, like Greece or Ireland,but shareholder's capital has been restored.” And in a recent Bankof America survey, 47 percent of U.S. CFOs expect their companiesto hire additional employees this year, up from 28 percent lastyear, and 64 percent expect revenue growth in 2011, up from 61percent last year.

With Congress having extended the Bush-era tax breaks foranother 2 years, businesses may move with a little more certaintythis year, and depending on your situation, hiring may be in thepicture. We hope so, especially if you're targeting younger peopleto add to your employee roll. In the recently released IIABA AgencyUniverse survey, findings show that the agency universe is indeedexpanding–maybe not in numbers (which remains fairly stable atabout 37,500), but in the types of new agencies out there.Minorities, women and second- and third-career entrepreneurs aredriving the trend toward smaller agencies with an increasinglypersonal lines slant. Who better to face this changing business andcarry it into the future than someone young with fresh ideas?

If you're optimistic about 2011 and interested in hiring, readthis month's cover story. In speaking with representatives fromseveral industry association groups for young producers, wediscovered that young people are taking the initiative and drivingthe programs, which is as it should be. Most agree that if there'sone thing our industry should do to attract young talent, it's toblow our own horn about how fulfilling and lucrative an insurancecareer can be. And the best spokespeople we could have are theyoung people who are already succeeding every day in the business.Check out our ongoing nGI features in the magazine and online for ayouthful perspective on insurance.

Speaking of new, beginning in mid-January, AA&B'swebsite will be moving to PropertyCasualty360.com, a newwebsite that combines the established knowledge resources and newsreporting of AA&B, National Underwriter P&C,Claims Magazine, Tech Decisions and Florida Underwriter, along withproprietary market data and relevant content aggregated from acrossthe web to create one distinct and vital information source for allP&C professionals. Check it out today!