Will actuaries take the contractor route for more cash?
With all the furore around investment bankers, no one seems to be paying much attention to the fate of the humble actuary. Six months ago, firms were falling over themselves to hire from a limited talent pool. Now, with permanent headcount sign-off harder to come by, companies are instead trying to lure them into the contract market.
"It was always difficult to find people, but the financial crisis has only exacerbated their reluctance to move jobs," says Paul Walsh, CEO of specialist actuarial recruiter Acumen Resources. "What's more, there's something of a recruitment freeze on the permanent side. But firms still need the people, so they're prepared to pay a premium to convince them to move to the contractor market."
The pool of contractors is very limited, says Walsh, and the extra cash is needed to convince actuaries to give up the security of permanent employment.
Newly qualified actuaries can expect to earn 500-600 a day, but that can rise to 1,200 further up the career ladder, says Walsh.
Fresh graduates are increasingly more willing to work on a contractor basis, says Andrea Sneddon, teaching fellow of actuarial mathematics and statistics at Heriot Watt University.
"In the past, contract work didn't help graduates complete their actuarial traineeship, but now there are smaller consultancies who are prepared to offer a career plan within the temporary market," she says.
But Gordon Montgomery, director of the financial services practice at executive search firm Harvey Nash, remains unconvinced that actuaries will work on a contractor basis, regardless of the increased pay.
"Actuaries are bright, well-qualified people and naturally risk averse - there's little movement in this space anyway. What's more, in spite of a general recruitment freeze, mission-critical roles are getting signed off, even if firms have to go further up the management chain to do it."
