It’s a tough hiring environment these days. Many businesses have slowed or paused hiring amid economic uncertainty. So, any employer increasing its hiring volume is like a magnet for job-seekers.
Hiring spree. Much of Progressive’s growth stems from booming business. Last year, Progressive added more than 5 million policies while net premiums collected grew by 21% to $74.4 billion. On top of that, the company has already added 1.3 million policies in the first quarter of 2025.
The largest bucket of new hires this year, around 5,000, will account for this growth, Lenane said. The remainder will be to fill vacancies created by internal promotions which Progressive must hire externally for, and lastly, to fill attrition.
Most of the roles Progressive will hire for involve claims and contact center roles—50% of the company’s workforce is in claims.
“[We’re] always making sure that we have folks to be able to handle claims and or to replace the folks who have moved into trainers and leadership and all those things,” Lenane said.
They’re bulking up their legal team as well. “Lawyers is a big focus this year again as we get more policy holders, more claims, you need more lawyers to be able to represent our insurance when they’re in accidents,” Lenane said.
“I’m not struggling to find people. Where you’re always challenged is to find the right folks based on the skillset and people who are going to thrive in a very inclusive culture,” he said.
“The more companies that are dialing back remote, hybrid work, the more those people tend to be in my hiring pools,” Lenane said.
Turning to AI. To accommodate the rapidly growing number of job applicants, Lenane’s team is leveraging AI.
With recruitment, AI is used to forecast growth expectations and shape hiring strategy, source candidates, and cut down recruiters’ workloads.
“I get 800,000 applicants. I can’t talk to every single one of them,” Lenane said. As a result, Progressive has adopted asynchronous interviews, allowing candidates to answer questions sent to them over video at their own convenience. AI is used to help hiring teams understand how that individual would succeed in that role, though a recruiter ultimately makes the decision on who to move forward with.
“AI is enhancing our ability to make decisions and solve problems,” Lenane said. “But at the end of the day, the humans are driving the bus.”
Eye on candidate experience. As AI speeds up the hiring process, Lenane’s team must be mindful about candidate experience. Around one in every four candidates are current or prospective Progressive customers, he notes, and poor experiences can turn away future business—especially if people air out their frustrations online.
“We’re moving a lot faster through the process because we’re leveraging technology. So that changes people’s expectations,” Lenane said.
Lenane’s team has increased focus on providing candidates with feedback, such as suggesting how they can improve their interview conduct, or recommending other roles they are better suited for.
“We’re able to have a little bit more of those types of interactions…because some of the systems are helping them do some of the back end admin work,” Lenane said.
