1. Aon cut then restored employee pay
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When COVID-19 hit the United States earlier this year, boardrooms in all sectors of the economy wrestled with how to best respond to the unprecedented challenge.
Layoffs, furloughs and other measures were widespread as state authorities imposed lockdowns as they attempted to restrict the spread of the disease.
Among the major insurance brokerages, Aon PLC gained the most attention when it announced in April it would retain all its employees but impose a temporary pay cut as a cost-control strategy.
The story detailing Aon’s 20% salary cut for about 70% of its workforce was the most read risk management-related story on Business Insurance’s website in 2020.
Several other brokerages imposed cost-saving measures, including layoffs, pay reductions and other cuts. Aon’s two main rivals, however, Marsh & McLennan Cos. Inc. and Willis Towers Watson PLC, which Aon had earlier announced it had agreed to buy, said they would seek to avoid broad salary reductions, with Marsh & McLennan CEO Dan Glaser labeling such measures a “blunt instrument.”
About two months after it first announced the pay cut, Aon reversed course and said pay levels would return to normal effective July 1. In addition, the brokerage pledged to return any withheld pay plus 5%.
