CHICAGO, April 29, 2026 - Aon plc (NYSE: AON), a leading global professional services firm, today convened government, civic and business leaders – including more than 30 Chicagoland CEOs – to address the urgent challenge of protecting and expanding pathways into the workforce as AI transforms entry-level jobs.

Hosted at Aon’s Chicago headquarters, the discussion centered on how the region can build on its track record of innovation in apprenticeships and skills-based hiring to meet the demands of an AI-driven economy. Participants explored how to translate lessons from Chicagoland’s early-career initiatives into scalable models that help employers fill critical roles while creating more on-ramps to quality jobs.

Expanding Access to Opportunity at Scale

Over the past decade, Chicagoland has emerged as a proving ground for how organizations can adopt modern apprenticeships. Working together with educators, workforce organizations and state leaders, employers across Chicago have helped expand paid, earn-and-learn opportunities into high-growth fields, supporting over 22,200 apprenticeships across Illinois, with Chicago-based apprenticeship opportunities increasing by 31 percent in the last year.

Aon was among the first major employers to launch a registered apprenticeship program in 2017. Since its inception, the organization has expanded its apprenticeship program to 15 cities, advancing the careers of over 600 early career professionals, while building a coalition of partners that has supported tens of thousands of apprenticeships across industries.

Today, Aon is building on this foundation by combining its workforce expertise and data-driven insights to help identify emerging roles and collaborate with educators to align training with future demand to ensure early careers pathways remain relevant in an AI-driven economy.

“As a risk and people firm, we recognize that the winners in the application of AI are going to be led by world class people strategies,” said Greg Case, president and CEO of Aon. “As AI reshapes work, pulling back on early careers or apprenticeships programs is exactly the wrong response. Instead, we should be making skills-based assessments, driving clarity about what we’re looking for and how our needs will evolve over time and hiring based on skills. With this approach, there should be opportunity for everyone.”

At the event, the Chicago Civic Committee highlighted Hire Chicago, a new effort focused on expanding job opportunities by connecting talent from communities facing the highest unemployment rates with employers across the region. From apprenticeships to collaborations with workforce providers and targeted job placement in under-resourced neighborhoods, Hire Chicago will support businesses in adopting a range of early careers solutions.

“Chicago’s growth depends on whether our employers can hire the talent they need — and whether more Chicagoans can access the careers that power a modern economy,” said Derek Douglas, Civic Committee President. “This effort builds a reliable pipeline while expanding opportunity at scale. That’s good for business and it’s essential to Chicago’s competitiveness.”

Employers Scaling What Works

Leaders at the convening – from Aon, IBM and Zurich – emphasized the critical role that employers play in modernizing early career pathways and ensuring training aligns with real workforce demand as AI reshapes how work gets done.

“As we mark ten years of Zurich’s apprenticeship program, we’re proud of the role it has played in expanding access to early career opportunities,” said Sierra Signorelli, CEO of Zurich U.S. and Zurich Commercial Insurance. “Continued collaboration among employers is critical to ensuring these pathways remain strong and relevant as AI reshapes the workforce.”

Reflecting this focus on employers leading in partnership with government, Governor JB Pritzker and IBM today announced the company’s new FutureNow delivery center at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park. As part of FutureNow Chicago, IBM will create 750 new full-time jobs in AI, cybersecurity, data science, quantum and more. FutureNow Chicago will serve as an innovation and delivery hub, helping IBM clients and industry partners solve complex, real‑world business and technology challenges while creating clear pathways to careers for Illinois talent.

“The conversations happening here today make clear that in the age of AI, building strong workforce pathways requires leadership from the private sector working hand-in-hand with government and educators,” said Pritzker. “Employers are on the front lines of understanding how jobs are changing and their partnership is essential to ensuring training programs align with real-world demand and create meaningful opportunities for workers. Illinois is proud to support these collaborations because when businesses step up and invest in workers, we strengthen our economy, expand access to opportunity and position our state to compete and lead.”

“IBM is pleased to work alongside the Governor to further the state's technology and innovation ecosystem,” said Arvind Krishna, Chairman and CEO, IBM. “IBM’s FutureNow Chicago delivery center at the Illinois Quantum and Microelectronics Park (IQMP) aims to support new jobs, expand our Chicago delivery capability for IBM’s clients and build the future of tech talent, including early career pathways, for sustained economic growth."

Building a workforce environment for the future

Leaders also emphasized that creating durable early career pathways is essential for Chicago’s long-term economic vitality, and that this work depends on deep collaboration with education institutions such as e City Colleges of Chicago.

One example is a newly announced initiative called Moonshot, through which City Colleges and its partners are building the infrastructure to accelerate the growth in paid tech apprenticeships and drive permanent employment at leading Chicago-area companies. Under this new model and five-year pilot, City Colleges will serve as the employer of record, covering the first year of the apprentices’ wages at employer partners new to City Colleges. Students will be supported with career development tools and comprehensive services to help them succeed on the job, while academic degree programs are integrated with paid, work-based learning so they can continue advancing their education as they gain experience.  

“Paid apprenticeships are the fastest pathway to upward mobility,” said Juan Salgado, chancellor of City Colleges of Chicago. “Our Moonshot model will build on the Chicago Apprentice Network to place hundreds more students each year into careers powering Chicago’s growing tech ecosystem. Through Moonshot, Chicago won’t just adapt to the future of work, we’ll help define it.”

Following the employer roundtable, members of the Chicago Apprentice Network joined Chicago-based apprentices to celebrate ten years of success of Chicagoland apprenticeships amidst National Apprenticeship Week. The milestone was lauded as proof of how Chicagoland employers and civic leaders have helped pioneer innovative workforce solutions in the past – and can do so again to ensure AI becomes a tool that empowers, rather than diminishes, early careers.

About Aon
Aon plc (NYSE: AON) exists to shape decisions for the better — to protect and enrich the lives of people around the world. Through actionable analytic insight, globally integrated Risk Capital and Human Capital expertise, and locally relevant solutions, our colleagues provide clients in over 120 countries with the clarity and confidence to make better risk and people decisions that protect and grow their businesses.

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