Introduction

As is made clear in this supplement, it is currently a job seeker's market in broking, whether you are a provincial, national or Lloyd's broker.

Our survey reveals that the fat cats are benefiting the most. Chief executives and managing directors saw an 18% increase in their salary from last year.

Middle management also saw a significant rise with a 19% jump from last year. Senior management saw a 5% growth on last year.

But administrators saw their salaries fall 3% from last year's average as did under 25s, who saw a 9% fall from last year. But those youngsters will hopefully stick with insurance and reap the financial benefits later in their career.

Vacancies exist across the broking spectrum and professionals are in demand by both smaller and larger brokers in London and across the UK.

But has this labour shortage arisen because of under investment in training?

Our survey reveals that on training and development, respondents reveal that 14% receive no training at all. And this could be the most worrying aspect of all. Companies should do more to deal with the issue of training.

This could be driven by employees, as nearly half of our respondents consider personal development as the most important aspect of attracting them to their present job and 61% have an insurance-related qualification.

There is some bad financial news: 23% of our respondents expect no bonus over the next 12 months. That said, those who have received bonuses have seen them rise year on year until now.

And, as noted, overall salaries have gone up practically across all classes of work. So the situation is not all that bad. And with only 2% extremely worried about the threat of redundancy the industry sees the future as bright. And those working in insurance deserve their rewards, as they take no, or very little, lunch breaks or holidays.