Aflac Faces a Tight Labor Market

AFLAC facing distribution pressures due to the Chinese Flu………..

by Allison Bell

July 30, 2021

What You Need to Know

  • The U.S. team has been focusing on brokers, who already come in with a license.
  • The producer pipeline was very strong up until the first quarter.
  • The company is using contests to lure experienced agents back.

Aflac has been working hard to get and keep the producers it needs to sell its famous accidental disability insurance products, hospital indemnity insurance, and other supplement life and health products.

Company executives talked about how they are trying to keep the agent pipelines flowing Thursday in a conference call they held to go over second-quarter earnings with securities analysts.

The second quarter ended June 30.

The company works with outside brokers, but it still has a large network of career agents.

One analyst, Jamminder Bhullar of JP Morgan Chase & Co., asked about the impact of the tightening labor market on producer recruiting.

“It’s certainly getting harder,” said Virgil Miller, Aflac executive vice president and president of its Group and Individual Benefits divisions.

One Aflac response has been to recruit more brokers, Miller said.

“Brokers already come to the table with a license,” he noted. “They’re already familiar with all products.”

Daniel Amos, the company’s CEO, pointed out that the company is using contests to lure back some experienced agents who stopped selling when the lockdowns came.