By admin 
It’s a troublesome hiring surroundings as of late. Many companies have slowed or paused hiring amid financial uncertainty. So, any employer rising its hiring quantity is sort of a magnet for job-seekers.
That’s the case for Progressive. The insurance coverage big just lately introduced plans to rent greater than 12,000 staff for 2025, up from 10,000 new hires final 12 months. Moreover, the corporate’s expertise acquisition workforce expects to obtain a whole bunch of 1000’s of functions this 12 months, Progressive’s enterprise chief of expertise acquisition, Neil Lenane, tells HR Brew. Lenane shared how the corporate plans to handle that quantity of résumés whereas supporting the enterprise’s development.
Hiring spree. A lot of Progressive’s development stems from booming enterprise. Final 12 months, Progressive added greater than 5 million insurance policies whereas internet premiums collected grew by 21% to $74.4 billion. On prime of that, the corporate has already added 1.3 million insurance policies within the first quarter of 2025.
The biggest bucket of recent hires this 12 months, round 5,000, will account for this development, Lenane mentioned. The rest can be to fill vacancies created by inner promotions which Progressive should rent externally for, and lastly, to fill attrition.
Many of the roles Progressive will rent for contain claims and speak to middle roles—50% of the corporate’s workforce is in claims.
“[We’re] at all times ensuring that we have now of us to have the ability to deal with claims and or to exchange the oldsters who’ve moved into trainers and management and all these issues,” Lenane mentioned.
They’re bulking up their authorized workforce as properly. “Legal professionals is an enormous focus this 12 months once more as we get extra coverage holders, extra claims, you want extra legal professionals to have the ability to symbolize our insurance coverage after they’re in accidents,” Lenane mentioned.
TA benefit. At a time when many hiring groups are getting flooded with increased résumé volumes, any employer rising its ranks can count on a tsunami. Progressive receives a median of 800,000 functions yearly, and Lenane mentioned quantity for roles that usually don’t appeal to a lot curiosity has spiked. For instance, a current opening for a digital and communication supervisor position netted 178 functions when traditionally it might not have acquired greater than 30, in line with Lenane.
“I’m not struggling to search out folks. The place you’re at all times challenged is to search out the fitting of us based mostly on the skillset and people who find themselves going to thrive in a really inclusive tradition,” he mentioned.
However it’s not simply actively hiring throughout a recruitment slowdown that’s attracting expertise to Progressive. The insurance coverage firm has a bonus over a few of its opponents, because it has established a distant or hybrid-friendly coverage for many roles together with in claims, buyer care, IT, analyst, authorized, and company features, whereas opponents like Geico and Farmers have applied return-to-office mandates. And, as corporations in different professions that Progressive employs, reminiscent of tech, implement strict RTO mandates, that can drive expertise its approach as properly.
“The extra firms which are dialing again distant, hybrid work, the extra these folks are typically in my hiring swimming pools,” Lenane mentioned.
Turning to AI. To accommodate the quickly rising variety of job candidates, Lenane’s workforce is leveraging AI.
With recruitment, AI is used to forecast development expectations and form hiring technique, supply candidates, and minimize down recruiters’ workloads.
“I get 800,000 candidates. I can’t speak to each single one in every of them,” Lenane mentioned. In consequence, Progressive has adopted asynchronous interviews, permitting candidates to reply questions despatched to them over video at their very own comfort. AI is used to assist hiring groups perceive how that particular person would achieve that position, although a recruiter in the end makes the choice on who to maneuver ahead with.
“AI is enhancing our means to make selections and resolve issues,” Lenane mentioned. “However on the finish of the day, the people are driving the bus.”
Eye on candidate expertise. As AI accelerates the hiring course of, Lenane’s workforce should be aware about candidate expertise. Round one in each 4 candidates are present or potential Progressive clients, he notes, and poor experiences can flip away future enterprise—particularly if folks air out their frustrations on-line.
“We’re transferring lots sooner by means of the method as a result of we’re leveraging expertise. In order that adjustments folks’s expectations,” Lenane mentioned.
Lenane’s workforce has elevated deal with offering candidates with suggestions, reminiscent of suggesting how they will enhance their interview conduct, or recommending different roles they’re higher suited to.
“We’re in a position to have slightly bit extra of these kinds of interactions…as a result of a few of the methods are serving to them do a few of the again finish admin work,” Lenane mentioned.
This report was originally published by HR Brew.
This story was initially featured on Fortune.com