FTAdviser.com

Advertising

Just when we thought mortgages was a tough sector to be in, step up the insurance industry, which has been receiving its fair amount of sleepless nights.

Not only will companies and brokers alike be counting sheep to keep there minds off the FSA's consultation paper into Cobs, they will probably also be trying to block out news that the UK insurance industry may not be sufficiently prepared for Solvency II.

Add to these matters the findings from the FSSC's London Market Skills Review which predict that the continual downsizing by London-based insurers could result in careers of senior professionals "plateauing after five or six years" with an estimation that 400 jobs will be lost each year until 2011 and you have yourself a dire state of affairs.

The reason for this "plateau" will have a familiar ring to it: skills shortages. The insurance industry, like the rest of the financial services sector is facing a massive crisis as senior professionals leave the industry, with no new recruits coming in.

Once again the government has taken the time and money to put together research telling us what we already know. Sure, qualitative research should never be knocked and report is certainly useful with the interviews conducted with senior London market employers delivering some useful information, but is it not time to stop researching and start acting? Before you actually climb in your car and embark on the journey - a road map is nothing more than a silly piece of paper filled with lines. Similarly reports, while useful and insightful, need to lead to more action to really be effective.

In the same light, work experience is often dubbed as the most significant source of new entrants and emphasis is placed on the need to link with schools and higher education institutions. Nothing new there either - all you need to do now is convince the youth who seem to be more interested in knifes, than books. Apprenticeships is another favourite solution but is this not just the private sector stepping in to train up individuals because quite frankly where else will they get the staff they so desperately need?

If the reported figures from the Office for National Statistics are to be believed, the private sector's ability to provide a lending hand is fast drawing to a close. Growth rate in employment has dipped, and as John Philpott rightly states the economy is generating too few jobs to prevent the dole queue from starting to lengthen - much less address the country's skills crisis.

Is it not time that the government spent less time commissioning and spearheading reports (most of which seems to be left on trains anyway) and start to act on the very real problems facing the country?