The Insurance Journal
Florida insurance agents are trying to bolster the industry’s track record in attracting college graduates by employing a new state law that aligns college courses with the state’s licensing requirements.
The insurance workforce development law, passed in 2015, gives the insurance industry an opportunity to catch up with what other industries have been doing for years in training of new employees, according to Jeff Grady, CEO of the Florida Association of Insurance Agents (FAIA). The association helped design the law and is now working on an education campaign to take advantage of the opportunity and draw attention to insurance and risk management careers.
“We are trying to help our industry with a really huge and universally-acknowledged problem of workforce shortage,” says Grady.
Grady said FAIA partnered with lawmakers to pass the law last year, a law that the industry hopes will make it easier to attract new talent to replace its aging workforce.
“We were stunned by how many trades and occupations line up to train their workforce,” Grady said. “The insurance industry hasn’t done a good job there, and [FAIA] just sort of stumbled into it.”
The law allows college students to waive the state personal lines agent license exam if they complete the appropriate insurance courses at an approved Florida college.
