Aon will cut 1,500 to 1,800 jobs over the next three years, the insurance conglomerate said Thursday, two weeks after closing its acquisition of Hewitt Associates.
The combined companies have not yet decided where the headquarters will be located, but a spokesman said Thursday that “as both companies are based in Illinois, we are very committed to Illinois.”
Aon is based in downtown Chicago, and Hewitt is headquartered in Lincolnshire. The spokesman could not say how many of the job cuts will affect Chicago-area employees.
Before the merger, Hewitt employed 23,000 workers globally, including about 5,500 throughout Illinois, and Aon employed 6,000 workers globally, including 400 in Chicago.
A broad restructuring of the company will be completed by the end of 2013, and Aon said it expects to save $355 million a year, including $280 million a year by eliminating jobs.
Aon closed its $4.9 billion acquisition of Hewitt Associates, a human resources specialist, this month. The company has about 36,000 employees, including 29,000 in its Aon Hewitt human resources business. The job cuts announced Thursday will trim 4 percent to 5 percent of that work force.
The company said the plan will cost $325 million to implement, including $180 million in severance costs and $145 million in real estate expenses.
Source : Chicago Suntimes
