MetLife to move 2,600 jobs to NC from NE, Calif.

RALEIGH, N.C. (AP) – Insurance giant MetLife Inc. said Thursday it will move 2,600 jobs from offices in four Northeast states and California to lower-cost locations in two North Carolina cities, while also getting tax breaks and other incentives that could reach $100 million.

The insurer is shifting the jobs from Lowell and Boston, Mass.; Somerset, N.J.; Bloomfield, Conn.; Johnstown, Pa.; Warwick, R.I.; and Aliso Viejo and Irvine, Calif., MetLife spokesman John Calagna said. The positions will be consolidated in Charlotte, which will become the U.S. headquarters for MetLife’s retail business, and at a global technology and operations hub in the Raleigh suburb of Cary. The company’s retail segment sells and services life, disability, auto and other insurance.

MetLife employs about 23,000 U.S. administrative staffers in about 30 locations, mostly in the Northeast, Calagna said. The consolidation will allow teams to work together in the same location while cutting MetLife’s real estate presence, he said.

“What’s happening is there are 2,600 jobs in these locations that either we’re closing or we’re reducing. All of those positions are being transferred to North Carolina,” Calagna said.

The new jobs paying average salaries of nearly $82,000 a year would include product management, marketing, sales and customer support in Charlotte and information technology positions in Cary. The company had about 140 workers in Charlotte before Thursday’s announcement.

“The strong business climate, access to universities and colleges and the desirable cost of living in North Carolina were significant factors in choosing to establish these new campuses in Cary and Charlotte,” said Eric Steigerwalt, MetLife executive vice president.

The company also considered sites in St. Louis County, Mo., state documents show. MetLife had been in discussions about coming to North Carolina since at least last summer, said Lee Ann Nance with the Research Triangle Regional Partnership.