Marsh plans to slow down organic hiring in 2022 after hitting 6k record in 2021; won’t take quick revenue boost

Marsh McLennan hit an all-time hiring record in 2021, boosting its headcount by a net 6k in organic hires to end the year near the 83k mark, a pace that cannot be repeated in 2022, company officials have said.

“We will be active in the market and take advantage of our brand at times, but we won’t have the same level of organic hiring in 2022,” CEO Dan Glaser (pictured) told the Q4 analyst call of outlook. 2022 will be devoted more clearly to fully onboarding the 2021 hires, he said.

Hiring in 2021 need not bring immediate top-line results, management warned, vowing that the organisation hired across a range of fields and experience levels and takes a long-term view to onboarding talent.

“We think the hiring strategy has a lot to do with how we do in 2023 and 2024 – it’s a permanent capacity into the firm,” Glaser said. He frames the question as staying above the 3-5% annual growth rates that Marsh broke from in 2021. Marsh is targeting "mid-single-digit or better" in 2022.

“When we hire, it’s not ‘what is your book of business?” Glaser said. “It’s ‘what is your capacity, what do you specialise in?’ … not just somebody who can pull in an account or two.”

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