As corporate HQs move jobs downtown, Chicago suburbs wonder what will take their place
CHICAGO - Even after years of high-profile office moves from the suburbs to downtown Chicago, the current predicament of Lake County, Ill., stands out.
The far north suburban county is bracing for the loss of about 2,700 office jobs by early next year, from prominent companies Walgreens Boots Alliance, Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. and Mondelez International.
Meanwhile, it's unclear what drugmaker AbbVie's $63 billion deal to buy Ireland's Allergan will mean for area employment. Abbvie has 9,300 workers in Lake County, making it the county's largest employer.
History indicates corporate campuses in Deerfield, Ill., and nearby suburbs - and the homes and businesses those high-paying office jobs support - can weather the storm. But the challenge has only intensified as more companies move jobs to downtown Chicago, in pursuit of younger workers who want to live in the city.
"I do not think the sky is falling, by any stretch," said Kevin Considine, president and CEO of economic development group Lake County Partners.
By now, Chicago's suburbs are familiar with the challenge of retaining their largest corporations and replacing those that have left. Suburban companies in recent years have shifted thousands of jobs downtown in pursuit of young,
