Shift in Jacksonville's financial industry also a shift away from downtown

[thelakelander]

Downtown’s biggest challenge, said Wendland, the city’s economic development director, is parking. Banks don’t want their employees fighting for parking spots. Meanwhile, none of the banks are moving into the impoverished areas in Northwest Jacksonville, so Wendland said he’s hoping new manufacturing jobs can instead help bring more life into those areas.

Mallot hopes for a larger impact. Eventually, he predicted, the city will run out of high-quality office space sought by banks, and new construction will be necessary, putting more people to work.

Wendland agreed, “We are getting to the point where if you’re looking for major blocks — 80,000 square feet and above of Class A office space — there’s not a long list of locations.”

Full article: http://jacksonville.com/news/metro/2016-06-05/story/new-york-too-expensive-so-jacksonville-steps-draw-high-paying-finance

[spuwho]

Yes, the draw to Jax from New York has been well documented in the WSJ and NYTimes.

The big difference is those NY entities arent choosing downtown Jacksonville. They are choosing Edge City sites where they can design/build much more cheaper per sq ft AND provide easy parking for the employees.

[thelakelander]

I assume they must be paying those employees less too?

[fsquid]

I assume they must be paying those employees less too?

The ones I've met that have moved down with either DB or Adecco kept their NE salaries.  I'm guessing new hires will be cheaper though.

[Snufflee]

I assume they must be paying those employees less too?

Can confirm, my wife is a procedure writer for Chase here in Jacksonville and according to Glassdoor and Indeed her base salary is some 15K less than the "national average" of jobs requiring a Bachelors Degree in that field.

[spuwho]

I assume they must be paying those employees less too?

The ones I've met that have moved down with either DB or Adecco kept their NE salaries.  I'm guessing new hires will be cheaper though.

Depends on the role of the person. Many middle managers have kept their NYC salaries and got the Florida "bump" by not having to pay state income taxes.

On the flip side, many senior managers will never leave NYC because of the need to circulate close to the decision makers.

As for the new hires, generally speaking they will not match salaries from other regions as they will be brought in at a locally adjusted rate.

Many financial firms are avoiding NYC, Chicago, Dallas for any senior leadership or divisions because the regional adjustment on salaries for those metros is too high. Forget California completely.

I remember when JP Morgan moved a bunch of back office out of Manhattan and Jersey City to Tampa.  Many New Yorkers didnt want to move or lose access to the decision makers in NYC but also didnt want to lose their healthy annual bonuses. So they bought retirement condos in Tampa and worked there 2-3 days a week and flew up to New York every doggone week to maintain their access to the power brokers. Just ridiculous.

The week after Bank of America took over Merrill Lynch, almost all the senior Merrill Lynch Jacksonville management moved back to New York.  They knew where their bread was going to be buttered.

[finehoe]

Banks don’t want their employees fighting for parking spots.

So give them a transit subsidy. They probably already do this in NYC.  Federal law allows a pre-tax transit benefit of up to $255 per month.

[Houseboat Mike]

Banks don’t want their employees fighting for parking spots.

So give them a transit subsidy. They probably already do this in NYC.  Federal law allows a pre-tax transit benefit of up to $255 per month.

Or roll parking into the lease.

[spuwho]

Banks don’t want their employees fighting for parking spots.

So give them a transit subsidy. They probably already do this in NYC.  Federal law allows a pre-tax transit benefit of up to $255 per month.

I used this in Chicago and it was very successful.

However, I would love to use this here, but I cant take 1.5 hours to bus to work each way.  While I live near a Flyer station, but there is no park and ride there so I risk parking on private property and getting towed. 2 big demerits.

[Houseboat Mike]

Announced today, TIAA is leaving Jacksonville. EverBank is staying, however TIAA had one floor at 301 West Bay. The lease expires next year and is not being renewed. https://www.thelayoff.com/t/1tRRgtRo

[thelakelander]

How many employees are losing their jobs?

[Houseboat Mike]

The word I heard was "Move to Texas or lose your job".

[Josh]

Some employees are not being given the option to relocate, and are being told they won't have a job after July.

A lot of employers are using Return to Office mandates to get employees to quit in general.
https://thehill.com/opinion/technology/4800828-office-mandates-cause-attrition/

[jaxlongtimer]

If you read the full posted link, you will see that TIAA is also closing a comparable or larger center in Denver.

It isn't unusual today for national companies to consolidate smaller, scattered locations into larger, centralized ones.  That scaling is a top advantage of larger companies so this should not come as a big surprise, especially after TIAA sold off the bank to the Everbank investors.

Jax has lost 1,000's of jobs for this reason over the years that haven't always made headlines.  It just happens in drips. On the other hand, we have also gained 1,000's of jobs being consolidated here.