Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland publish Diversity & Inclusion Survey

o   26.51% of senior leaders in the sector are women (Board, C-suite for Insurance Ireland members and director for Brokers Ireland companies)

o   73% of the surveyed workforce are Irish, with the rest of Europe accounting for 23% and outside of Europe 4%

o   27% of respondents have an active Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) strategy in place

o   39% of the respondents said that D&I is a Board and Executive agenda item

o   14% of respondents have either a full or part time D&I resource in place

Issued 25 May, 2021.  The first survey on diversity and inclusion (D&I) in the insurance sector, conducted on behalf of Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland across 174 brokers and 56 insurance companies, shows that while women account for 54% of the total workforce, they are under-represented at senior level, representing 26.51% of senior leadership roles (Board, C-suite for Insurance Ireland members and director for Brokers Ireland companies). Deloitte Ireland was involved in the preparation of the report; through support in providing insights on the results of the survey.

In terms of nationality data (where available), 73% of the surveyed workforce are Irish, with 23% coming from the rest of Europe and 4% outside of Europe.

Of respondents, 27% have an active D&I strategy in place and 39% said D&I is a Board and Executive agenda item.  14% of respondents have either a full or part time D&I resource in place.

Larger companies are more likely to have a stronger focus on D&I, with 70% of medium sized companies (51-249 employees) stating that D&I is a Board agenda item, rising to 92% in the largest companies (250+ employees).  63% of medium sized companies have an active D&I strategy in place, rising to 75% for large companies.  And 30% of medium sized companies have a full or part time D&I resource, rising to 58% in the largest companies.  The results for small companies are much lower, 25% stated that D&I is a Board agenda item; 14% have an active D&I strategy in place and 7% have a full or part time D&I resource.  However, it is important to note that 52% of the companies surveyed in this category have only 1-4 employees.

Speaking about the survey results, Moyagh Murdock, CEO of Insurance Ireland, said: “We were delighted to partner with Brokers Ireland on this important piece of work as it impacts everyone in our sector. Having a strong Diversity and Inclusion focus has become an essential part of doing business and is a key focus of the Insurance Ireland agenda.  We can see from our survey that companies of all sizes recognise its importance and are putting policies in place to improve the level of diversity in their organisations.  While these strategies are more evolved in larger organisations, we can see good work starting to happen even among smaller SMEs.  We can also see from the data that there is a long way to go to achieve diversity in our sector.  We are some way along the journey but we need to consolidate the advancements already made and look for ways to accelerate the diversity agenda so that it reflects the diversity among consumers.”

Diarmuid Kelly, CEO of Brokers Ireland, said “Diversity and Inclusion (D&I) is an important issue for our society and we appreciate Insurance Ireland partnering with us on this survey. The potential productivity gains from a successful D&I strategy should make all business owners alert to this issue and will ensure it will form a key component of business planning into the future.”

Insurance Ireland and Brokers Ireland Diversity Survey

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