Five things are holding UK insurers back on pricing talent: an ageing workforce, a skills mix that rarely comes in one person, slow hiring, attrition, and a back-office image that puts candidates off. Firms that widen where they look and train for pricing, rather than waiting for the finished article, are better placed to close the gap.
Pricing teams feel the squeeze first. The CII 2024 Insurance Talent Report found that around 72% of insurers are struggling to find candidates with the right tech and data skills, and nearly 60% worry about staff being poached by other sectors. Those figures describe the whole market. In pricing, they're sharper.
Is an ageing workforce part of the problem?
Yes. In the London Market, it is commonly known that more than half of its employees are over 40 (RSA). When experienced pricing people retire or move on, they take years of judgement and portfolio history with them, and there often isn't anyone ready behind them.
Why is the right pricing skills mix so hard to find?
Because modern pricing needs three things that rarely come together. Teams need technical knowledge, including GLMs, Python, SQL and Radar. They need commercial sense: the ability to link pricing models to strategy, product design and customer outcomes. And they need the communication and collaboration to work across functions. Few traditional hiring pools produce all three, and many hires arrive without hands-on tech or commercial exposure.
How long does it take to fill a pricing role?
Often months. Standard recruitment, from sourcing to offer, can take up to three to four months or even longer. While the role sits open, key projects wait and margin is at risk. Our time-to-impact calculator shows how quickly that time adds up.
Why do pricing teams lose people so quickly?
Because pricing and data people are in demand everywhere. It is commonly states that insurance firms lose nearly a third of their pricing and data staff within two years, and strong analysts are open to offers from fintechs, analytics firms and adjacent sectors. Each departure hits productivity and morale, and wastes the investment already made in that person.
Does pricing have an image problem with candidates?
Often, yes. Pricing, to an outsider, can be seen as a back-office function, which makes it harder to compete with fintechs and banks for analytical talent. Sell the strategic importance of the work, its effect on customers and the variety of problems it solves. Be specific about what the role changes, not just which tools it uses.
What can insurers do to close the pricing talent gap?
Widen the pool and train for pricing. Recruit-train-deploy is one way to do both. We recruit STEM graduates, ex-armed forces veterans, and career returners and changers, selected for aptitude and attitude. The Pathfinders™ Academy runs for 10 weeks, mostly online, through modules you work through at your own pace, live training and webinars with the pricing team, with some in-person days. Pathfinders are then deployed into client pricing teams on an initial contract, typically 24 months, with the option to take them on permanently. They make an impact from day one.
Inclusive sourcing matters too. Traditional pipelines often under-serve women, career returners, ex-forces veterans and STEM graduates from less obvious backgrounds. Our diversity and inclusion page sets out our approach, and how recruit-train-deploy works covers the mechanics.
Talk through your options
If you're weighing up options for a live vacancy, book a call with Anthony. If you're still working out where your gaps are, start with the talent challenges we see most often.
Frequently asked questions
What is holding UK insurers back on pricing talent?
Five things: an ageing workforce, a skills mix that rarely comes in one person, slow hiring, attrition to other sectors, and a back-office image that makes pricing harder to sell to candidates.
What skills do insurance pricing teams need?
Technical skills such as GLMs, Python, SQL and Radar, commercial sense to link models to strategy and customer outcomes, and the communication to work across functions. Few candidates combine all three.
How can insurers widen their pricing talent pool?
Look beyond people who've already done the job. STEM graduates, ex-forces veterans, and career returners and changers can succeed in pricing if they're selected for aptitude and trained properly.
How long is the Pathfinders™ Academy?
Ten weeks, mostly online, through modules you work through at your own pace, live training and webinars with the pricing team, with some in-person days. Pathfinders are then deployed on an initial contract, typically 24 months.