Insurance companies as employers

Transcription

1 26 Insurance companies as employers Source of income for families in Switzerland Swiss private insurance companies employ around employees across the world, of them in Switzerland. The industry trains apprentices and offers a wide range of further training opportunities. The insurance industry shows the highest productivity (value added per employee) of any sector in Switzerland. With its employees, of them in Switzerland, private insurance is one of the most important employers in the country. The sector also trains around apprentices every year. If all those families whose living depends indirectly on the insurance industry were added, these figures would be at least doubled. Insurance industry workers are highly trained and have a great deal of purchasing power. Insurers offer interesting professions Almost one in five employees in an insurance company works in field sales. Since the new supervisory legislation came into force in 2006, registration has been mandatory for insurance intermediaries who are not tied. Account managers working on behalf of one insurance company may register on an optional basis. In 2008, 382 intermediaries working for insurance companies gained the right to use the legally protected title of Insurance Intermediary VBV. In addition, the spectrum of professions offered by Swiss insurance companies is enormous. It ranges from telephonist to loss expert, art historian and stock exchange trader to lawyer and from translator to director s personal assistant, programmer and web designer to mathematician and engineer. An industry that champions education The Insurance Industry Vocational Training Association (VBV), as a centre of competence for vocational and cross-company education and training, delivers innovative services to insurance companies employees. In addition, it also provides tailored teaching and learning media. Due to the complexity of the insurance business and the constantly growing and changing needs of the stakeholders, a sufficient number of specialists with top qualifications is essential. This requires ongoing adaptation of the industry s education and training provision. The VBV has addressed this in the past few years and introduced a new training concept with the Insurance Management School HFV. In addition, there is a revised federal certificate in insurance. Investing in knowledge In the past year, 511 candidates have taken up inservice training formulated according to a new concept. Some of them are aiming for the federal certificate in insurance. That means they are headed in the near future for a career as, for example, a risk advisor, loss inspector, management consultant or corporate portfolio analyst. Others want to gain the diploma awarded by the Insurance Management School and become qualified insurance managers. After that, positions as product manager, sales manager, general agent or account manager will be open to them. These two training programmes have been newly created and represent a total investment of CHF 6.6 million francs.

2 27 High status of education and training Insurance companies attach great importance to the field of education and training, which enjoys high priority as an element of strategic management. Traditionally, insurers have also been committed to training apprentices, a commitment they take very seriously. To ensure that they can continue to offer young people competitive occupational training in the future, they are championing the innovative further development of education and training. Training is rising rapidly in importance in the deregulated and client-orientated market. The Swiss insurance industry will address its tasks in this field aggressively and respond to the changes. In other words, it will continue to invest in knowledge. Employees in the private insurance sector At 1 January Total employed In Switzerland Abroad Breakdown of those employed in Switzerland Women Men Full-time employees Part-time employees The Insurance Industry Vocational Training Association Insurance Industry Vocational Training Association: Registration for the insurance intermediary course: Registration for the VBV insurance intermediary examination: Registration for the advanced vocational training course culminating in the Federal Certificate of Insurance: Registration for the HFV diploma: Administration Sales force Female trainees Male trainees Total trainees Source: Swiss Insurance Association

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4 29 Incomes for families Swiss private insurance companies have around employees across the world, of them in Switzerland. In addition, they are important clients and safeguard jobs in many different industries. They train around apprentices every year and attach major importance to training and education.

5 30 Swiss insurers not only represent an important economic factor, they also embody fundamental values like trust, security and reliability. This reputation also makes a decisive contribution to Switzerland s good image abroad. Ernst Tanner, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors Lindt & Sprüngli, Kilchberg ZH

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