Insurance hiring in 2026: building a talent engine

Written By Dena Hyett



If insurance hiring felt harder in 2025, you were not imagining it. Many insurers dealt with longer time to hire, higher candidate drop-off and more internal pressure to evidence control, compliance and cost.

In 2026, the insurers that hire best will not simply “work harder” or brief more agencies. They will build a talent engine that is measurable, scalable and designed for the reality of today’s market.

That is what we do at Vermelo. We deliver flexible insurance talent solutions including award winning Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO), Embedded Talent (RaaS), Managed Service Provider (MSP) and Talent Advisory.

Why insurance hiring keeps getting stuck

Most slow hiring is not caused by a lack of candidates. It is caused by friction in the system.

Common issues we see across insurance businesses include:

  • Role requirements that are not clear enough to screen consistently

  • Too many suppliers and inconsistent messaging to candidates

  • Interview processes that are long, unstructured, or difficult to schedule

  • Limited pipeline building for specialist areas like pricing, actuarial and data

  • A lack of real-time reporting, so bottlenecks only get spotted when it is too late

When these problems stack up, hiring becomes reactive. That is when costs rise, roles stay open longer, and the best candidates opt out.

The 2026 shift: run recruitment like an operating model

A strong insurance hiring engine has three things. Control, capability and conversion.

1) Control

Control is about visibility and governance.

It means you can answer questions like:

  • Where is each vacancy sitting right now and why

  • Which stages create the most drop-off

  • Which hiring managers need support

  • What your cost-per-hire and time-to-hire trends look like over time

With an end-to-end RPO model, recruitment becomes a managed process rather than a series of disconnected transactions.

2) Capability

Capability is about having the right resourcing model for the work you are doing.

Insurance hiring is not one-size-fits-all. You might need a different solution for:

  • a growth spike in underwriting, claims or operations

  • niche senior hiring in pricing and actuarial

  • transformation programmes needing change, data, product or delivery talent

  • a contingent workforce where you need better compliance and supplier control

Vermelo’s model is designed to flex. That can mean adding Embedded Talent (RaaS) recruiters into your team quickly, running an RPO programme end-to-end, or using MSP to bring structure to your contractor and temporary workforce.

3) Conversion

Conversion is the part most businesses underestimate. It is how well your process turns shortlisted candidates into accepted offers.

Small improvements here deliver big results:

  • tighter role messaging and employer narrative

  • faster, more structured interview workflows

  • clearer communication at every step

  • fewer handovers and less duplicated effort

In one UK insurer case study, Vermelo helped fill 11 senior pricing roles in 6 months and reduced time-to-hire by 50%, supported by stronger candidate engagement and a longer-term pipeline.

Hybrid working is part of the hiring equation

Insurance talent has options and attraction is closely linked to flexibility.

A Personnel Today survey involving UK insurance companies found a correlation between more in-office requirements and fewer applicants.

This does not mean every role must be fully remote or hybrid. It means attraction improves when you are clear, consistent and realistic about your policy and when you can explain the “why” behind it.

What makes Vermelo different for insurance clients

Clients typically come to Vermelo when they need measurable improvement, not more activity.

Our delivery is built around:

  • Embedded delivery under your brand, within your systems when needed

  • Compliance-first process design and clearer governance

  • Data and reporting that helps you remove bottlenecks and reduce cost over time

  • A partnership model that is proven at scale, including long-term insurance RPO delivery

Vermelo was also named Best Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) Business at the Global Recruiter Awards 2025.

Which insurance hiring model is right for you

Here is a simple guide:

Choose Embedded Talent (RaaS) if you need

  • immediate recruitment capacity

  • delivery inside your team for a defined period

  • specialist recruiters without agency mark-ups

Choose Recruitment Process Outsourcing (RPO) if you need

  • a consistent end-to-end recruitment process

  • improved time-to-hire and quality at scale

  • better reporting, governance and candidate experience

Choose Managed Service Provider (MSP) if you need

  • stronger control over contractors and temporary hiring

  • supplier governance and improved visibility of contingent spend

  • a more consistent compliance approach

If you are unsure, Vermelo’s Talent Solutions Finder is designed to help you compare options quickly.

FAQs for insurance hiring leaders

What does an insurance RPO partner do?
An RPO partner can manage permanent hiring end-to-end, from sourcing and screening through to onboarding, supported by process design, reporting and continuous improvement.

Will RPO slow us down with extra process?
A well-run RPO typically reduces friction by standardising the workflow, improving scheduling, and removing duplicated effort across suppliers and stakeholders.

Can we combine solutions?
Yes. Many insurers use a blended approach, for example embedded recruiters for surge hiring alongside RPO governance, or MSP for contingent workforce control.

Ready to improve insurance hiring in 2026?

If your hiring plan includes growth, transformation, specialist pricing or actuarial hiring, or better control of contingent workforce, we should talk.

Book a discovery call | santa.benga@VermeloRPO.com | 07304 094171

Dena Hyett
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The 2026 shift: recruitment as an operating model