NU Online News Service, Aug. 17, 10:16 a.m.EDT

IAS Claim Services is looking for adjusters. And according toits chief executive officer, others in the claims field are lookingas well--demand for quality adjusters remains high, despite thestruggling economy and 9.1 percent unemployment rate.

Citing U.S. Bureau of Labor statistics, IAS noted, "There willbe a 9 percent growth rate in claims adjusters, examiners andinvestigators through 2016."

Part of the reason, IAS said, is an aging workforce in thisfield. IAS stated that 70 percent of the claims workforce in theindustry is over 45. "The pool is aging, so the market is stillvery robust," CEO Larry Cochran said.

He added that claims are not going away with a slower economy,but rather they are growing, and there is a need to refresh thepool of adjusters.

While he acknowledged that some companies may be cutting back onmore seasoned or experienced adjusters on internal payrolls due tothe economy, he said that if claims volume is not decreasing, thosecompanies have to replace the lost individuals with newworkers.

He noted that some companies that have shed workforce haveturned to third-party administrators. "We're seeing more of thattype of business coming from companies that are cutting back ontheir internal staff."

This trend is leading to a demand among TPAs to recruitadjusters, he said.

Two other TPAs contacted by National Underwriterindicated that while they are hiring adjusters intermittently, theydid not believe there was a trend to read into.

But Jeff Carter, president and CEO of CE Insurance Services, aFlorida-based recruiter specializing in insurance jobs, said he hashad more business on the claims side from TPAs in the last 12-to-18months than he has in the past 20 years.

Part of the demand among TPAs, he said, is that property andcasualty companies do not want the payroll and benefit expenses offull-time adjusters, so those jobs are shifting to TPAs.

He also echoed Mr. Cochran, stating that demand is high foradjusters, because claims activity has remained consistent or evenpicked up some recently.