Philadelphia’s labor market shows promising signs of improvement in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic with continued demand for highly skilled workers, according to Philadelphia Works’ quarterly labor report. But there is more work to be done to help the community recover.

Local employers have an important role to play in spurring that recovery, asserts Marc Armstrong, Managing Principal at Aon, and Nicole Tranchitella, Senior Managing Director at Accenture, in their recently co-authored LinkedIn article. And employers can start by developing apprenticeship opportunities, they say. “Apprentices are significant contributors in making our workforce culture more diverse, inclusive and innovative.”

To spur the development of apprenticeships in the community, Aon and Accenture co-founded the Philadelphia Apprentice Network. Together with additional partners like Philadelphia Works, Merck and Chubb, the recently launched network is aiming to create 500 apprenticeships in the Philadelphia area, with the mission to accelerate and scale the program to create many more participants and opportunities in the coming years.

This network is modeled after the Chicago Apprentice Network, which Aon, Accenture and Zurich co-founded in 2017. The Chicago network has grown to include more than 50 employers, and recently reached a milestone of creating 1,000 apprenticeships throughout the Chicagoland area. Aon made a 2020 commitment to invest $30 million and grow apprenticeships to 10,000 nationwide by 2030..

In collaboration with its co-founders, this year Aon also helped launch apprentice networks in Washington, D.C., Northern California and Minnesota, with plans to expand into other major cities.

To read more about Aon’s Apprenticeship Program, click here.