Insurers In Tough Battle For IT Talent

To get a good idea of which insurance technology jobs are hottest, who commands the top dollars, and what particular skillsets are most in demand, just consider current insurance industry trends. InformationWeek's 2014 US IT Salary Survey reveals that competition for IT talent in insurance is most intense -- and salaries are highest -- for employees who can successfully deal with and develop solutions in the areas of big data and analytics, social media, cloud, information security, risk management, and regulatory mandates.

"Insurers must all invest in technology to deal with the big trends," said Frank Wander, CEO and founder of PeopleProductive, a consultancy that provides workforce productivity and solutions for innovation to its clients. "And where investment goes, jobs follow."

Demand Up, Salaries Flat?
However, although the emerging hot technology areas and a slowly improving economy are combining for a stronger employment picture, this is not consistently reflected in insurance industry salaries for IT staff and management, according to the InformationWeek study. Median base IT salaries in insurance haven't budged since last year, remaining at $90,000 for staff and actually dropping slightly for managers, from $125,000 to $124,000. Total compensation for staff, taking into account bonuses and other direct cash payments, rose 1.9% to $96,000 in 2014, although total compensation for managers dropped slightly to $138,000, reports InformationWeek.

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