In an open letter to Aon employees (27th April 2020) Greg Case, Aon CEO requested that staff support the firms decision to implement “temporary compensation reductions”
Below is an excerpt from his open letter:
"Preserving operational flexibility
Consistent with our principles, our first actions have been focused on opportunities that do not have a direct, personal impact on individual colleagues. We have already substantially curtailed spending on contractors and third-party vendors and are now asking our Aon Business Services team to take additional steps. They are mobilizing a monumental firm-wide effort to reduce all discretionary expense not related to client service.
We have also paused our stock buyback plan and set aside those funds. It’s important to note that we intend to preserve our dividend. Paying a regular dividend is consistent with maintaining an investment grade rating and fundamental to accessing the capital markets.
As we assess the economic risks on the horizon, we do not believe that these actions alone are enough to provide the operational flexibility we may require. That’s why we are also asking colleagues across the firm to support us during this time with temporary compensation reductions.
Our Named Executive Officers (NEOs), including me, Christa Davies, Eric Andersen, John Bruno and Tony Goland, as well as our Board of Directors, will reduce salaries by 50 percent.
We have worked with local leaders around the world to determine the most equitable way to apply a temporary salary reduction to our broader colleague base and have developed a tailored approach based on a set of criteria, including the cost-of-living.
Based on that analysis, we have set a floor in each country. This means that approximately 30% of our colleagues will see no reduction.
We are working with local leaders and planning for the remaining 70% of our colleagues to take a reduction of approximately 20% of salary, which will be implemented in accordance with local practices.
These actions, which will begin to take effect May 1, were developed in collaboration with the Aon Operating Committee.
Our objective is that everyone emerges from this challenging period in as good a place as possible; unfortunately, it is too early in this economic crisis to determine how we ultimately mitigate these actions.
Our commitment is that we will act with integrity to protect our colleagues and our firm. We will continue to apply our principles-based approach to how we manage through this crisis and review these actions monthly.”
To read the full Aon open letter to staff for wider context CLICK HERE