Fidelity is expanding in Durham by launching new hub, creating 500 jobs
Fidelity Investments, one of the largest U.S. financial services companies, plans to hire 500 new employees in Research Triangle Park as the company creates a new regional hub for its personal-investments business.
The expansion comes in addition to Fidelity’s decision in April to expand its Durham team by 225 positions.
“We’re increasing the number of customer-facing employees to support not only unprecedented client growth and engagement, but also our associates who work hard every day to help our customers,” Fidelity’s North Carolina head, Rob Merdes, said in a statement.
While last month’s jobs announcement was focused on the company’s technology roles, like mobile app developing, the new round of jobs will be part of the company’s personal-investments business, which includes roles in customer service and financial advice.
Merdes said most of these jobs will be entry-level positions and urged laid off workers to apply.
“Fidelity is seeking candidates with strong customer service skills, including those working in industries such as retail and hospitality that may have been hit hardest during this pandemic,” Merdes said at a news conference Wednesday announcing the jobs.
He added Fidelity plans to help many of its new hires gain the necessary certifications needed to offer financial advice and work on personal investments.
“You could really use that as a springboard to start a career in financial services,” Merdes said.
Machelle Sanders, the state’s commerce secretary, added that these jobs could be great for the thousands of students graduating from North Carolina colleges this month.
Fidelity declined to say what the pay range will be for the jobs.
The state is not offering any incentives to the company.
Gov. Roy Cooper, who attended the jobs announcement, said the announcement was more proof of the state’s pool of talented workers. “They are doing this because they are very familiar ... with our quality workforce,” he said.
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Growth in Fidelity’s online banking services
North Carolina is not the only state benefiting from Fidelity’s investments this year. The Durham expansion is part of a nationwide hiring spree of 4,000 new employees, as the company adds workers to handle a surge in its online-banking services.
Since the start of 2020, Fidelity has added 8.6 million new customers, Merdes said.
Digital interactions during the pandemic increased by nearly 60% on Fidelity’s mobile and web platforms, Brooke Forbes, head of technology for personal investing at Fidelity, told The News & Observer last month.
The company doesn’t expect those digital interactions to slow down, and it is aggressively hiring new employees to meet the demand. Younger customers, especially, she said, prefer digital banking services.
“As customer demographics change and younger generations get more involved in trading and thinking about investing, their preference is to work in those digital channels,” she said.
Fidelity says it has more than 4,300 employees across North Carolina. A majority of those are based at its Research Triangle Park office, which has a mix of tech-focused and customer-service jobs.
Fidelity is part of a cluster of financial services firms that have opened tech hubs here.
Other financial companies, including Credit Suisse, Deutsche Bank and MetLife, have added hundreds of jobs here in recent years, The News & Observer previously reported.
Many of the new Fidelity jobs are expected to be filled by the middle of this year, and the company plans to host several job fairs in the coming weeks.
Merdes said Fidelity doesn’t expect to add to its real estate in Research Triangle Park to make room for the new jobs. “We anticipate a combination of work from home and work from the campus,” he said, which should alleviate the need for more space.
Challenge to educate more North Carolinians
The expansion is the latest in a string of jobs wins for the Triangle, following announcements from Apple, Google and Fujifilm Diosynth earlier this year. All of these companies are expected to fill thousands of high-paying jobs in the coming years.
This presents a challenge for the state’s workforce, Cooper acknowledged Wednesday. The governor pointed to his previously set goal of achieving two million North Carolinians with post-secondary degrees “to make sure we have the educated workforce to fill all of these jobs we are attracting to the state.”
Cooper said he hopes to appropriate both state and federal funding in the upcoming budget to make community colleges and universities “to be more affordable for people.”
“There are a lot of people who are on the edge right now,” he said. “They’re trying to better themselves and get training or the degree they need to get these high-demand jobs. We want to provide that education.”
“It is a critical time for our state because we are attracting so many quality businesses with good-paying jobs,” he added. “Having the people we need to fill those jobs is going to be important. It’s a tremendous opportunity, but it’s also a challenge.”
This story was produced with financial support from a coalition of partners led by Innovate Raleigh as part of an independent journalism fellowship program. The N&O maintains full editorial control of the work. Learn more; go to bit.ly/newsinnovate
This story was originally published May 12, 2021 at 10:30 AM.
