Financial & Insurance Insights: 2026 HR Industry Benchmark Report

At the same time, financial and insurance HR teams are navigating AI and risk pressures on multiple fronts:

• 27% see adopting AI into the organisation as their biggest hurdle
• 23% cite expanding AI use across the organisation as a key challenge
• 21% point to both cyber/security threats and the economic outlook

The infographic also surfaces core industry benchmarks:

• The sector’s average cost per hire is $16,279 — around 4% below the national average
• New hires reach full productivity in around 33 days, about 25% faster than the Australian average
• Around 4.8% is the predicted base salary increase in financial and insurance services in 2026

Implications for financial and insurance organisations

The 2026 HRIB findings give financial and insurance organisations a grounded view of where AI, risk and workforce expectations are heading, and where HR can have the greatest impact.

Understanding these trends and how to respond can help you:

• Embed AI safely and effectively in people and operational workflows
• Protect against cyber and data security threats as tool usage expands
• Balance cost pressure with the need to attract, retain and develop specialist talent
• Build a workforce that can adapt as regulations, products and customer expectations evolve

Here are some practical ways financial and insurance HR leaders can respond.

1. Move from AI intent to responsible, measurable impact

With only 18% of organisations seeing AI work extensively across the business, there’s a clear gap between ambition and execution.

• Focus AI on well-defined use cases where you can measure value — for example, drafting policies, summarising regulatory updates, or turning HR and workforce data into leadership-ready insights.
• Involve risk, compliance and security teams early so AI use is aligned with existing frameworks and controls.
• Track a small set of AI metrics (time saved, error reduction, faster reporting cycles) so leaders can see where AI is genuinely improving performance.

2. Treat AI adoption as a change and capability program

With 27% naming AI adoption and 23% naming expanded AI use as top challenges, tooling alone won’t close the gap.

• Clarify who owns what across HR, IT and the business: education, governance, policy setting and measurement.
• Invest in targeted AI capability building for HR, people leaders and key business functions, so teams know when and how to use AI (and when not to).
• Create simple AI “guardrails” for employees (approved tools, example use cases, red lines) to reduce uncertainty and risk.

3. Strengthen cyber and data security around people systems

With 21% citing cyber/security threats, AI adoption and data protection must go hand in hand.

• Work with IT and security to define access controls, audit trails and data retention policies for HR and workforce data across AI-enabled tools.
• Educate managers and employees on safe data practices, especially what can be shared with AI tools, how outputs should be validated, and how to report issues.
• Where possible, consolidate workforce data into secure, governed systems rather than spreadsheets or disconnected point solutions.

Read our article on how the biggest threat to cybersecurity in 2025 is human behaviour.

4. Balance external hiring with internal mobility and development

With cost‑per‑hire around $16,279 and salary expectations rising by roughly 4.8%, relying solely on external hiring is expensive.

• Use benchmark data on cost‑per‑hire and time‑to‑productivity (33 days) to make the case for stronger internal mobility and development pathways.
• Identify critical roles and capabilities — risk, compliance, analytics, digital product, customer and operations — and build structured pathways for internal talent to move into them.
• Combine targeted external hiring for truly scarce skills with cross‑skilling and upskilling plans where adjacent capability already exists.

5. Use benchmarks to refine your 2026 workforce strategy

Financial and insurance benchmarks provide a realistic lens on cost, speed and expectations.

• Compare your own cost‑per‑hire, time‑to‑productivity and salary movement to the figures in the infographic to understand where you’re ahead, on par or behind the wider market.
• Use those insights to refine your 2026 workforce plan: where to streamline hiring and onboarding, where to focus development and career pathways, and where AI or automation can safely remove low‑value work from HR and line managers.

By applying these insights, financial and insurance organisations can combine AI, secure data foundations and human judgment to build HR practices that support both resilience and growth.

How can ELMO help?

ELMO is the Complete AI Workforce Platform for mid‑sized organisations across Australia and New Zealand. It unifies HR and payroll on one connected data foundation and layers native AI to turn workforce data into insight and action — helping financial and insurance teams manage AI adoption, risk and talent with greater confidence.

Within the platform, specific solutions can help address financial and insurance 2026 challenges:

ELMO HR Core & Payroll – your secure, compliant workforce foundation

HR Core centralises people data across business units, functions and locations, reducing reliance on spreadsheets and disconnected tools. Automated workflows and reporting support your compliance and governance needs, while strong security controls help protect sensitive employee and organisational data.

Paired with Payroll, you can manage complex pay structures, incentives and flexible work arrangements accurately, reducing the risk of errors and providing HR, Finance and leaders with a single, reliable view of workforce costs.

ELMO Learning + Career Development – developing capability where it matters most

In a sector where regulation, risk and technology shift quickly, ELMO Learning helps you deliver and track compliance, regulatory and professional development programs at scale.

You can:

• Roll out and monitor mandatory and regulatory training across your workforce
• Support upskilling and reskilling for in‑demand roles (risk, compliance, analytics, digital)
• Lift AI and data literacy across both front‑office and back‑office teams

Alongside Learning, ELMO’s Career Development solution helps you understand your workforce’s capabilities today, define role‑based frameworks and turn assessments into personalised development plans. That means you can see where capability gaps actually are — and connect them directly to targeted learning and career pathways, instead of relying solely on external hiring.

ELMO Performance Management – aligning performance, risk and growth

ELMO Performance Management links goals, feedback, development plans and career pathways so leaders can have more structured conversations about performance and growth.

Performance insights can be used to:

• Identify and support high‑potential specialists and future leaders in key areas (risk, compliance, analytics, customer)
• Target development in roles that are critical to regulatory compliance and business continuity
• Inform remuneration and promotion decisions in line with both market benchmarks and internal equity

Real‑time reporting helps HR and executives make more informed decisions about workforce design, succession and where AI and automation can best support teams.

ELMO Recruitment – hiring efficiently in a competitive market

Where external hiring is essential, ELMO Recruitment helps you find and hire the right talent faster, with structured workflows that reduce manual admin for hiring managers and recruiters.

AI‑assisted features support screening and shortlisting so your team can focus on high‑value conversations with candidates, while maintaining clear, auditable recruitment processes that align with your risk and compliance standards.

Want to know more?

Explore the full infographic for a visual snapshot of financial and insurance AI readiness, risk pressures and workforce benchmarks — then use the insights to refine your 2026 workforce and capability strategy.