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Insurance companies as employers
Source of income for 49 000 families
in Switzerland
Swiss private insurance companies employ around 129 000 employees across the world,
49 000 of them in Switzerland. The industry trains 1 800 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 129 000 employees, 49 000 of them in
Switzerland, private insurance is one of the most important employers in the country. The sector also trains
around 1 800 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 com­
panies 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.
ASA SVV Nothing works without insurance
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 in­
novative 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.
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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.
The Insurance Industry Vocational Training Association
Insurance Industry Vocational Training Association:
www.vbv.ch
Registration for the insurance intermediary course:
www.education-at-insurance.ch
Registration for the VBV insurance intermediary examination:
www.intermediary-at-insurance.ch
Registration for the advanced vocational training course
culminating in the Federal Certificate of Insurance:
www.education-at-insurance.ch
Registration for the HFV diploma: www.akad.ch
Employees in the private insurance sector
At 1 January
2007
Total employed
2008
2009
125 184 126 005 129 227
In Switzerland
47 184
47 505
49 236
Abroad
78 000
78 500
79 991
Women
19 814
19 316
20 718
Men
27 370
28 189
28 518
Full-time employees
38 069
38 875
39 518
Part-time employees
9 115
8 630
9 718
39 251
39 549
40 097
7 933
7 956
9 139
Female trainees
983
958
986
Male trainees
812
780
787
Total trainees
1 795
1 738
1 773
Breakdown of those
employed in Switzerland
Administration
Sales force
Source: Swiss Insurance Association
ASA SVV Nothing works without insurance
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ASA SVV Nothing works without insurance
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Incomes for 49 000 families
Swiss private insurance companies have around 129 000
employees across the world, 49 000 of them in Switzerland. In addition, they are important clients and safeguard
jobs in many different industries. They train around 1 800
apprentices every year and attach major importance to
training and education.
ASA SVV Nothing works without insurance
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“Swiss insurers not only represent
an important economic factor, they
also embody fundamental values
like trust, security and reliability.
This reputation also makes a de­
cisive contribution to Switzerland’s
good image abroad.”
Ernst Tanner,
CEO and Chairman of the Board of Directors
Lindt & Sprüngli, Kilchberg ZH
ASA SVV Nothing works without insurance