Accounting Firm Plans To Hire 320
More Jobs:Metlife Expanding Into New Tampa
TAMPA - International accounting and consulting firm PricewaterhouseCoopers LLC said Tuesday that it's planning to hire 320 workers in Tampa during the next two years.
The company needs more employees because it's expanding its shared-services center. The Tampa-based operation consolidates and coordinates information technology, human resources and financial services for other PricewaterhouseCoopers offices nationwide.
The company also is hiring project managers, editors and writers to establish a new operation, the Knowledge Services Organization, which will help other PricewaterhouseCoopers workers collect, organize and disseminate information.
"We'll be using new technology ... to capture knowledge, to share it, to archive it," said Ken Cooke, the company's managing partner in Tampa.
For example, a PricewaterhouseCoopers employee might contact the Knowledge Services Organization for help in solving problems, researching industry trends, or finding employees with a particular technical expertise.
PricewaterhouseCoopers currently employs 1,685 people in the Tampa Bay area. About 1,500 work at the shared-services center at 3109 W. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., near Raymond James Stadium. The remainder are in downtown Tampa.
Cooke said his company considered several locations for the new Knowledge Services Organization, with Atlanta and Houston being among the finalists.
The expansion makes PricewaterhouseCoopers eligible for tax refunds under the Florida Qualified Targeted Industry program.
The company stands to receive at least $3,000 for each job it creates and maintains in Tampa over several years, which works out to about $960,000. For PricewaterhouseCoopers to receive the refunds, the annual salaries of the new jobs must be at least $37,851, or 15 percent higher than the Hillsborough County average.
Cooke said salaries will be based on position and experience. Job seekers can go to the company's Web site at pwc.com for information about openings and pay, he said.
Local and state leaders applauded PricewaterhouseCooper's announcement.
"PricewaterhouseCoopers' expansion is a feather in the cap for the Sunshine State's booming financial services industry, which employs more than 330,000 Floridians," Gov. Jeb Bush said.
Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio also cheered the decision. "Their decision to expand in our community indicates their confidence in our city's local market," she said.
