Recruiters for area financial services companies said they are finding it easier to recruit out-of-state talent, while also leaning on local colleges and universities to fill their ranks.
“Clearly over the last decade, it has become a lot easier for us to recruit top-notch talent to Jacksonville,” Fredrik Eliasson, CSX Corp. executive vice president and chief financial officer, said Thursday.
Eliasson was part of a panel discussion for the JAXUSA Partnership, the economic development division of the JAX Chamber.
The “Bullish on JAX” event was presented to highlight needs and demands for the financial services sector.
Eliasson said Jacksonville has not been a “destination city” and CSX has not been a “destination company” in the past, but benefits from continuing to build the community brands.
Another panelist, James Taylor of Deutsche Bank, said the Jacksonville and Southern lifestyle can make Jacksonville appealing to those seeking a Wall Street-style firm for corporate investment banking.
“As attractive as New York City is, New York City isn’t for everybody,” said Taylor, the bank’s director of human resources.
Panelist Claudia Amlie, EverBank senior vice president and chief human resources officer, said Jacksonville was “interestingly positioned.” She said its climate was different from the rest of Florida, and it ranks high on technology lists.
“We hire all over the country,” she said.
Amlie said EverBank in January-April has hired more than 1,100 people and has another 800 positions to fill.
There still is work to be done on the perception effort, said panelist Harold Stankard, Fidelity Investments senior vice president and site general manager.
The company came to Jacksonville in 2006 and employs about 800 people at its Southside regional contact center.
When executives were looking for a regional location in 2005, they almost canceled the trip because they had two other locations in mind. But, after spending a little more than a day here, they chose Jacksonville.
He said when people think Florida, “they think Miami, they think Orlando, they think Tampa” and the Jacksonville business community needs to continue to take part in raising awareness of its assets.
John Delaney, JAXUSA Partnership chair and University of North Florida president, was the moderator and event facilitator.
Each of the panelists discussed his or her company’s relationship to local colleges and universities and employing local graduates.
EverBank has established internships and a leadership development program, with almost one-fourth of participating undergraduates coming from UNF.
Those in the leadership development program beginning in January also will have guaranteed placement with the company, Aimlee said.
For Fidelity Investments, Stankard said UNF has been a “good spot” for the company finding employees, especially in entry-level positions. The university has programs that start developing business leaders at a young age.
As for Deutsche Bank, Taylor said the relationships with UNF and Jacksonville University have expanded over time.
Michael Fleming, Deutsche Bank Jacksonville managing director, told the crowd earlier in the program that Jacksonville has a “great talent pool” that was a requirement for the bank when it searched for an expansion site in 2007.
Eliasson said CSX has “worked very hard” to form relationships with Atlantic Coast Conference and Southeastern Conference schools for higher-level positions because it was tough to fill those positions from local candidates.
Delaney said such challenges are ones the university continues to work on to match curriculum to company needs.
Overall, he said it seems Jacksonville has “made a major turn in the financial services industry.”
“What these four companies are saying is that they are in massive expansion mode, massive hiring mode,” Delaney said.
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