The issue of the aging workforce had a simple solution back in 2008. Everyone’s 401(k) went into the tank and any talk of retirement was delayed. That may have given some IT departments a false sense of hope, but as the stock market has gradually rebounded, people of a certain age are once again contemplating the next step in their lives.

The delay helped in another regard as well. It also allowed insurance carriers to get another two or three years closer to replacing some of their legacy systems. No one likes to lose institutional intelligence, but as long as it doesn’t involve aging solutions carriers will somehow manage to get by.

There are problems on the opposite end of the spectrum as well. If companies are looking to add fresh talent to their IT department they better have some interesting systems that will challenge today’s programmers and developers.

You can’t go out and replace a system just to appease a few new employees, but you can make sure that the new generation of IT workers is challenged by their work and engaged with systems that will allow policyholders and business users to operate in an anytime/anywhere environment.

Whether it is IT staff, underwriters, or agents, insurers are finding a greater demand for more functionality and more freedom from the wired world.

There are many challenges that companies have to recognize. Some companies retain archaic policies on today’s communication tools—particularly Facebook and Twitter. These companies don’t recognize the business value, only the social agenda. What they fail to realize is that a new generation of technology users doesn’t distinguish between work and social life.

Not every Facebook post involves asking a friend to help solve a business problem, but the fact that younger users don’t see walls around them is alarming to some hierarchies.

Technology and social agendas are changing. Not all of us like it, but we better try and understand it if we want to continue making a difference in the world around us.

Special Reports /

Re-examining the Transformation of Insurance in 2011

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