Independent agents and brokers, responding to a years-long soft market, already have been doing more with less and are implementing fewer of the layoffs and other cost-cutting methods that so many U.S. businesses have adopted in the past year in response to the recession.
In a recent online survey of almost 500 AA&B readers, nearly 36 percent reported taking no cost-cutting measures over the past year. When implemented, the most common methods were salary freezes (33 percent) followed by layoffs (18 percent) and benefits reduction or elimination (17 percent).
Respondents also cited economizing methods such as hiring freezes, reducing work hours, expense review and reduction, “pressuring vendors to reduce rates,” and moving to less expensive office space.
Recommended For You
Want to continue reading?
Become a Free PropertyCasualty360 Digital Reader
Your access to unlimited PropertyCasualty360 content isn’t changing.
Once you are an ALM digital member, you’ll receive:
- Breaking insurance news and analysis, on-site and via our newsletters and custom alerts
- Weekly Insurance Speak podcast featuring exclusive interviews with industry leaders
- Educational webcasts, white papers, and ebooks from industry thought leaders
- Critical converage of the employee benefits and financial advisory markets on our other ALM sites, BenefitsPRO and ThinkAdvisor
Already have an account? Sign In Now
© 2025 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
