A Low-Tech Approach To Work Automation

Two million people work in the U.S. insurance industry. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, 300,000 of these workers will retire in the next three years, and 50% will retire by the end of this decade.

As it is, there are 200,000 unfilled positions in insurance, and, according to a recent study from the Hartford, only 4% of Millennials and Generation Z are considering insurance as a career option. They want work that’s more creative, expressive, meaningful.

Throw in COVID and the highest inflation rate the U.S. has experienced in over 40 years and we’re already seeing signs of what this means as last week American Family Insurance, based in modestly priced Madison, WI, raised their minimum wage to $23 an hour.

Though we wholeheartedly support claim processors and contact center workers earning fifty grand a year, we also know insurance is a price-driven business, and those same workers will likely scour the market for the best-priced coverage they can find in response to relentless advertising from GEICO, Progressive and State Farm urging them to click and save.

The time to start automating knowledge work at scale is now. Results are not immediate. The transition to automation - and an automation-first mindset and culture - takes time. Work automation is not about technology. It’s about process.