Acuity Insurance plans to hire more than 200 employees in 2025

Heather Graves

Staff

December 2, 2024

SHEBOYGAN – For the first time in company history, Sheboygan-headquartered Acuity Insurance – which employs more than 1,700 people nationwide – surpassed $3 billion in revenue.

On pace for continued revenue growth in 2025, Acuity President Melissa Winter said the insurer is looking to grow its team as well – announcing plans to hire more than 200 employees in the new year.

“As Acuity continues to grow, we are proud to add to our family of employees to meet the needs of the individuals, families and businesses that depend on us to protect what matters most,” Winter said.

Though other insurance companies nationwide have announced layoffs, Winter said Acuity’s customer base growth has sparked a need to hire.

“We have been and will continue to be proactive in our hiring plans in anticipation of continued company-wide expansion,” she said.

Acuity CEO Ben Salzmann said he credits the company’s strength and stability for the creation of new jobs and expanded opportunities for current team members.

“We are excited to offer rewarding career opportunities to people across experience levels to fuel our progress,” he said.

A good year

According to Winter, 2024 has been a milestone year for talent acquisition at Acuity – both in terms of new hires and overall applications.

“Year to date, we have welcomed 215 new employees to Acuity and have received more than 15,000 unique applications,” she said. “We currently have more than 130 individual job openings to fill. Based on our continued strong business growth, we expect to exceed these numbers in 2025.”

In addition, Winter  said Acuity’s business growth has created professional opportunities for current employees – in turn, paving the way for many to advance their careers.

“This year, we have seen more than 150 promotions and transfers across all departments, with many of our colleagues stepping into managerial roles,” she said.

Standing out

Making the announcement regarding its plan to hire more than 200 employees in 2025, Winter said, helps generate additional interest in Acuity as an employer.

“Even though we have received more than 15,000 applications in 2024 already, we continue to welcome a robust applicant pool in order to ensure we secure the best, most qualified individuals,” she said. “Publicizing our talent acquisition plans also contributes to Acuity’s earned reputation as a great place to work and demonstrates faith in our future.”

Beneficial for all

Winter said Acuity’s growth can be credited to the company’s strategic planning and market positioning.

Acuity is a mutual insurer, which she said means it is owned by its policyholders.

“We take a long-term approach, providing stability that benefits all our stakeholders – insureds, employees, customers and independent agents,” she said. “Over the past quarter century, this approach has enabled us to build a foundation of financial strength and stability that far surpasses our competitors.”

In fact, Winter said if Acuity had grown at only the industry rate over the past 25 years, “we would be just one-third of the size we are today.”

“Our fiscal stability in turn allows us to capitalize on opportunities in the market that less capitalized companies cannot,” she said.

All areas of the company

Acuity’s hiring plan, Winter said, will span nearly every area of the company – with talent acquisition decisions based on it fulfilling its commitment to stakeholders, “including maintaining the high-service standards for which we are known.”

“For instance, Acuity maintains a 97% satisfaction rating among customers who have had a claim and has earned accolades as a top company for claims service,” she said. “This is made possible by having a dedicated, fully staffed team of professionals who deliver on our standards and promises.”

Claims, Winter said, are just one part of Acuity’s operations.

“We work proactively to ensure we are well-staffed in every department in order to maintain our standards across all areas of the company,” she said.

Regarding the timeline of Acuity’s recruitment efforts, Winter said it will occur throughout the year, “with timing determined by the availability of the finest candidates, departmental needs and the optimization of the onboarding and training experience.”

“There may be individual hires, as well as hiring classes that coincide with college graduation schedules,” she said.

Though headquartered in Sheboygan, Winter said Acuity has employees nationwide, many in remote or hybrid roles. 

“We also remain committed to offering flexible work arrangements, including on-site at our corporate headquarters, remote or hybrid, to support the diverse needs of our employees while maintaining a collaborative team environment,” Joan Ravanelli Miller, Acuity general counsel and vice president-human resources, said.

A balancing act

With the strong growth Acuity has experienced as of late, Winter said maintaining company culture can be a challenge.

“We’ve addressed that challenge intentionally and proactively, creating a new department led by our director of culture and community and continuing to invest in building and celebrating a culture of belonging,” she said. “Our culture is built on having a fierce respect for the individual – respecting people for who they are, so they can fearlessly be themselves each day.”

Winter said Acuity has also added additional educational events to its Culture Exchange program.

“Throughout the year, we hold regular events to build and celebrate culture, including Employee Town Hall meetings, Coffee Connections, Lunch with an Officer, Corporate Workshops, Connection Clubs and company celebrations and events,” she said. 

Acuity’s remote employees are part of the company’s “Force Field” – an initiative that ensures they stay culturally connected to Acuity.

“We sponsor several virtual events for the Force Field throughout the year, distribute regular gifts to remote staff and we have expanded reimbursements for remote staff to attend headquarter events in person,” Winter said.

Continued support of company culture, she said, is important, because “simply put, our people are the reason for our success.”