Aon’s CEO Greg Case has asked employees to take a 20 percent pay cut due to COVID-19, in a letter that addressed how the pandemic has affected the firm.
In his letter, Case highlighted that the global economy is forecasted to shrink by around 3 percent for 2020, the worst performance in nearly 100 years.
Although there will be pay cuts, Case explained that there will be no job losses from Aon. He stated: “Bringing the best of our firm to clients requires every single one of our colleagues and we are committed to an approach that allows all of us to continue supporting that mission – that’s core to the premise of Aon united.”
Aon Solutions named executive officers (NEOs), including Case, Christa Davies, Eric Andersen, JohnBruno and Tony Goland, as well as board of directors, will all see salaries reduced by 50 percent.
He explained: “Based on that analysis, we have set a floor in each country. This means that approximately 30 percent of our colleagues will see no reduction.”
“We are working with local leaders and planning for the remaining 70 percent of our colleagues to take a reduction of approximately 20 percent of salary, which will be implemented in accordance with local practices”, he added.
These actions, which will begin to take effect as of 1 May, were developed in collaboration with the Aon operating committee,” he added.
In March, Aon announced that it is set to buy Willis Towers Watson (WTW) in an all-stock transaction with an implied combined equity value of approximately $80 billion.
The deal will see the combination of two of the world’s largest insurance brokers.
Case outlined in his letter that the combination with Willis Towers Watson “will be a positive catalyst that enables us to accelerate innovation on behalf of clients. This all-stock combination requires no financing and our intent to complete it creates no incremental financial burden”.