RESEARCH TRIANGLE PARK – The Fidelity Investments expansion at its Triangle campus announced last week will not receive any additional tax incentives, Rob Merdes, Market Leader for Fidelity Investments in North Carolina, told WRAL TechWire. Instead the company says it is placing its focus on recruiting the best possible talent to fill the 500 planned job openings, which are available now.

Fidelity chose to expand in North Carolina, including adding a new business function at the Triangle campus, because it believes that it is an “ideal location,” said Merdes. He noted that the company believes that the Triangle is one of the best available regions to hire a talented, diverse, and educated workforce for customer experience roles, and the company’s long-term strategy to diversify its own operations.

The region also offers employees a growing economy and a positive quality of life, along with high-quality schools, said Merdes.

The roles are being added because the company is growing, and that growth is significant, said Merdes. The company earned 8.6 million new customers since the start of 2020, he said.  Because of that growth, and perhaps because of the uncertainty of markets throughout 2020 and into 2021, customer interactions surged as well.

“The individuals hired to serve in these positions will help people with some of their most important financial goals, including buying a home, getting married, saving for college or planning for retirement,” said Merdes.  And, added Merdes, with the changes to the tax filing deadline and the deadline for IRA contributions changing, more of the company’s customers are reaching out to inquire about their options.

Other firms such as Apple have secured tax benefits as part of expansion packages in the state.

Fidelity expanding in RTP, adding 500 jobs – hiring already underway

The company is actively hiring, and intends to hire all 500 positions during the second and third quarter of 2021. “The great majority of these are entry-level, but there are some leadership positions as well,” said Merdes.

All positions are noted as qualifying for the company’s benefits package, and licensure is not needed in order to be hired, as the company will offer training and pathways to licensure, which takes approximately six months, said Merdes. The hiring and onboarding process is fully virtual, a change that the company made in response to the global pandemic, in an effort to keep new hires safe, and connected, said Merdes. New hires can expect a virtual onboarding and participation in a peer mentoring program, as well as bridged connections to the rest of their team, departmental leaders, and their colleagues.

In addition to the 500 new jobs announced this week, Fidelity Investments announced 250 technology and customer-facing jobs in North Carolina in April. The company currently has 4,300 employees in North Carolina, said Merdes, with the majority of those employees based from the Triangle campus.

Fidelity Investments, which has growing presence in Triangle, adds accounts for teens