Zurich celebrates 2,000 apprenticeships in Chicago Apprentice Network

The Chicago Apprentice Network was formed in 2017 by three companies that offered a few dozen apprenticeships — Zurich North America, Aon and Accenture. Today the network has grown to more than 110 employers offering over 2,000 apprenticeships in Chicagoland. The network’s founders have taken the Chicago Apprentice Network model on the road and set up similar networks in other cities, including New York and Philadelphia. But it all happened in Chicago first.

Leaders from business, government, community colleges and nonprofits, in addition to apprentices and alumni, gathered at Accenture Tower recently to celebrate Chicago’s leadership and to mark the 2,000th apprenticeship in the Chicago area, sharing the positive impacts the network has had on talent and business success and urging even more employers and individuals to consider apprenticeship.

Attendees heard from keynote speaker Brent Parton, Principal Deputy Assistant Secretary of Employment and Training Administration at the U.S. Department of Labor, as well as Kristof Terryn, CEO of Zurich North America; Lester Knight, Chair of the Board of Directors at Aon; and Beth Marrion, Senior Managing Director at Accenture. They also heard the stories of three individuals who have benefited from apprentice programs, including Aaron Henry (Zurich), Gabriela Caballero (Aon), and John Williams (Accenture). “When I started the Zurich apprenticeship, I never thought I’d be sharing a stage with our CEO,” Henry said in his remarks at the event. “It just goes to show, apprenticeship is full of surprises.”

In fact, many in the U.S. are not familiar with the breadth of apprenticeships now available. Apprenticeships in the U.S. are often associated with work in construction, manufacturing and the trades. Chicago Apprentice Network founders and member companies have proven apprenticeship works in corporate settings as well. They want to spread the word to more employers.

Network apprenticeships typically combine education with on-the-job training and paid work experience, allowing apprentices to attend a higher education institution and start a career simultaneously. A college degree is not a requirement. “Apprenticeship helps us attract from a much broader talent base,” Terryn said at the event. “We’re able to provide an education that brings practical and academic skills and that avoids so many of our students being saddled with massive debt. We all aspire to drive innovation, create a more inclusive and diverse workforce, and offer the new generation of employees better career opportunities. And I think that apprenticeships are a terrific way to accomplish just that.”

Henry graduates from his Zurich IT apprenticeship in September and will be promoted into his first post-apprenticeship role on the same team. At the Accenture event, Henry shared how he started his apprenticeship with no coding experience and now is fluent in the programming language Python and is creating his own website.

Caballero, a graduate of Aon’s program, expressed pride in her professional journey as a first-generation American who found apprenticeship as an alternative to taking on upwards of $100,000 of loans to attend a four-year college.

John Williams, a graduate of Accenture’s program, said his apprenticeship not only built his technology skills and equipped him to interact with clients, but also enabled him to help his family purchase a home.

Terryn talked about the return on investment in apprenticeship, citing the high retention rates for apprentices and the diversity of perspective that apprentices bring, which he said is crucial to building a culture of inclusion and innovation.

He referred to his professional experience in Switzerland, where the majority of talent comes from vocational training programs like apprenticeships. He voiced confidence in the growth potential of apprenticeship in the U.S. “I think we’ve barely scratched the surface,” he said.

He also emphasized that there are no limits to where an apprenticeship can lead, saying many top executives in Switzerland began their careers as apprentices.

Leaders from Zurich, Aon and Accenture commended Chicago City Colleges and other community colleges for their collaboration in creating apprenticeship curricula. Al Crook, Chief Human Resources Officer at Zurich North America, led the launch of Zurich’s program eight years ago and helped secure Department of Labor certification of the program. About two dozen apprentices started at the company’s Schaumburg headquarters, with Harper College in Palatine as the education provider.

Today, Zurich apprentices can be found in Chicago, New York, Atlanta, Houston, San Francisco, numerous rural communities, and various other locations coast to coast, working in a range of businesses and functions. Zurich has added other education providers to provide coursework to a growing number of apprentices across a much broader territory. Zurich also now offers pathways to earn either an associate degree, for those with little to no college experience, or a bachelor’s degree, for those who previously completed two years of college.

Zurich apprenticeships last two years and the company hires a new cohort of apprentices every year. About 60 new apprentices start the program in August of 2024. A month later, Henry and more than 50 other apprentices who started in 2022 will complete the program and graduate into their next positions at Zurich.

At the end of the Chicago Apprentice Network celebration, Henry challenged employers who may be on the fence about apprenticeship by saying: “Take the leap. Just hire one apprentice. You may find that it’s more rewarding to mold the best candidate for your business than to wait for them to apply. If you give someone that wants to succeed the chance, there will be no surprise when you both succeed.”

Learn more at zurichna.com and chicagoapprenticenetwork.org.