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Mid-Michigan Jobs Abound in Fast-Growing Segment
Insurance and financial services struggling to find help, study says
The Lansing area is building on its traditional economic foundation of cars, college and the Capitol, adding insurance and financial services to the mix.
The sector is the second-fastest growing – and highest paying – in the region, a new study says. Yet, banks, credit unions and insurance companies struggle to find enough qualified workers for the jobs they have open.
That was one of the conclusions of “Dollars and Sense: Investing in the Insurance and Financial Services Workforce,” a report to be released today by Capital Area Michigan Works and the Lansing Economic Area Partnership Inc. (LEAP).
“This is one of those sectors where it strikes me that we stand alone in the state in the amount of it that’s here and the growth of it,” said Doug Stites, chief executive officer of Capital Area Michigan Works.
Stites compared the importance of the sector with the region’s traditional job pillars: General Motors Corp., Michigan State University and state government.
“In terms of bringing in revenue from the outside – huge numbers and growing – these jobs would fall into the pillar category,” Stites said. “They’re pretty remarkable.”
The report looked at employment trends from 2000-06 in Clinton, Eaton, Ingham and Livingston counties. Livingston County was included because it’s home to Citizens Insurance Co. of America, a subsidiary of Worcester, Mass.-based Hanover Insurance Group Inc.
Pay higher than average
Among the report’s key findings:
- Pay is nearly 50 percent higher than average. The average insurance and financial services salary was $53,885, ranking behind only company management, manufacturing, and professional and technical services. The average salary for all private sector industries was $37,087.
- Between 2000 and 2006, jobs created by the sector grew 13.2 percent, the second-fastest rate, trailing the 19.6 percent surge in health care and social services.
- It was one of four industries locally that added jobs. Overall, jobs declined by 2.8 percent for all sectors combined.
- The sector employs 13,500, not including commissioned salespeople, who number about 1,100. That makes it the fifth-largest sector in number of employees, behind retail, manufacturing, health care and social services, and accommodation and food services.
- The share of insurance and financial services jobs in the four-county region is greater than in the United States or Michigan. The industry accounts for 6.8 percent of private sector employment locally, compared with 5.4 percent nationally and 4.3 percent statewide.
“By definition, that makes it an industry cluster for us,” said Matt Dugener, president and chief executive officer of regional economic development agency LEAP.
“It’s going to be important to continue to promote and build on the community assets that make us a favorable location for this industry.”
These types of businesses tend to be attracted to the seats of state government because it’s a fairly highly regulated industry, Dugener said. Many of the companies in the area also want to be close to MSU, which can provide them accountants, actuaries and other skilled workers.
Getting qualified
But getting those workers is increasingly difficult, industry leaders say.
“We’re doing a lot with the universities now to get our hooks into these smart college kids and give them jobs here and hope a lot of them will stay with us and not go to Texas or New York,” said Andy Hopping, chief financial officer at Jackson National Life Insurance Co., which employs about 1,400 at its headquarters at Okemos Road and Interstate 496.
And it’s not only numbers-oriented minds these companies seek.
One of Jackson National’s largest areas of job growth locally has been among its information technology work force, which develops its internal software system.
“That is the area of greatest challenge to us because there just aren’t that many people with those skills and the universities aren’t producing as many of those people as we need,” Hopping said.
The report’s authors hope the study will interest more people interested in financial and insurance services careers, said Paula Cunningham, president of Capitol National Bank and a former Lansing Community College president.
The bank is a subsidiary of Capitol Bancorp Ltd., a Lansing- and Phoenix-based company with 63 separately chartered banks in 17 states.
Cunningham said she hopes local school districts and colleges will help work with students and parents to show them the possible careers available in the industry.
“There are significant, very lucrative career tracks available for someone with the right skill sets,” she said.