The Irish insurance industry is an increasingly fertile hunting ground for the jobseeker.

Recruiters say there are plenty of jobs on offer in the sector, thanks to increased investment in life and pension policies and the emergence of new operators such as the Quinn Group.

Life underwriters and pensions administrators are especially in demand, after thousands of holders of Special Saving Incentive Accounts (SSIAs), a savings scheme topped up by the Government, reinvested their savings into pension plans and life cover when their accounts matured in 2006 and May 2007.

At the same time, demand for pensions was boosted by government pledges to contribute one euro for every three euros of SSIA proceeds reinvested by an SSIA holder into a pension product.

“2006 saw a significant increase in activity in the life and pensions sector, with the buoyant housing market, maturing SSIAs and the continued growth in the economy all contributing to its success,” says Robert Mac Giolla Phadraig, associate director of recruitment firm Sigmar.

Demand for labour in the insurance sector has also been helped by the arrival of new operators. The Quinn Group, which took over BUPA Ireland in April, kept on BUPA’s 300 jobs at the British health insurer’s previous location in Fermoy, Co Cork, and promised to create another 500 jobs over the next five years.

VIVAS Health now has annual turnover of €100m since it entered the health insurance market in 2004 and is currently the largest insurer of previously uninsured people.

But while life insurance jobs have boomed, general insurance roles have lagged behind. A life underwriter with between three and five years’ experience in the life and pensions sector can expect to earn between €35k and €45k a year, but a commercial underwriter in the general insurance sector with the same experience only commands between €28k and €40k.

Candidates in both sectors view flexible working hours as the most attractive benefit in the industry and often make a decision on whether to move jobs based on this factor, according to Sigmar. The recruitment firm believes this trend will continue throughout the rest of the year as commuting times continue to rise and housing developments are increasingly built further away from the centre of Dublin.