Thread by @patio11

Insurance underwriter: I mean check the tables; senior systems engineers are great risks. Negligible all cause mortality, inclusive of automotive accidents.
Company: What about competing job offers?
Insurance underwriter: Oh eff everything about that; you're on your own.

https://twitter.com/QuinnyPig/status/1377737856232255489

*sigh* While that makes a good joke, "key man" insurance policies are a real thing, but they're largely not used for line employees, even very critical line employees.

"Would that cover case of employee leaving of their own volition?"

If you're willing to pay for it, maybe.

A "key man" insurance policy is taken out by a business (as the beneficiary) against always the life and sometimes the health and availability of a person indispensable to the enterprise, to transfer a difficult-to-otherwise-control high-hazard low-probability risk to an insurer.

For example, if you're e.g. a 3 principal 20 full-time employees consultancy, you'll often have key man insurance on either a) the principal who is the chief rainmaker or (probably more commonly) b) all the principals.

Similar logic to a married couple having life insurance.

Anyhow looping back to the original topic: tech employers self-insure against this sort of risk for non-executives because an actuary tasked with pricing a policy on e.g. a staff engineer worth more-than-their-comp to the employer would come back with an astronomical quote.

"You want $20 million in coverage on a healthy 30-something? OK so just the life part of that runs you $X0k, you don't care, but then I calculated an 8% base rate of flight risk annualized for similarly situated engineers and the idiosyncratic risk here is high, too, so... $4.2M"

"$4.2M to cover their period of employment with us?" "Oh goodness no. That's premiums for the first year. Talk to me next year for how much more it will be to renew." "And if criticality goes up in the next year can I increase coverage at same price?" "Hahaha you are adorable."