Open spaces, sit-stand desks and foosball: The Adecco Group opens Florida Blue Campus center

The Adecco Group opened its Florida Blue Campus business center Nov. 16, moving from Deerwood South to three floors in Building 800 at 4800 Deerwood Campus Parkway.

“I came on board just about a year ago so this project was well on its way when I got here and last year, I had really seen this transform from literally concrete to what you’re all going to see today,” said Rich Maddi, vice president of financial operations and business transformation, North America.

Maddi talked to the employees gathered for the opening and ribbon-cutting.

The Adecco Group, based in Zurich, says it is the world’s leading talent advisory and solutions company.

It has three global business units: Adecco for workforce solutions, Akkodis for tech and engineering solutions and LHH for talent solutions.

The three are supported by the Jacksonville business center.

That portfolio includes training, temporary staffing, permanent placement, re-skilling and up-skilling, career transition, IT and engineering consulting.

Adecco Group leaders cut the ceremonial ribbon as Jacksonville-based employees, who largely have been working remotely since the pandemic began in March 2020, visited the site to see the new offices and pick up their badges and swag.

The office move was a few miles from Deerwood South, which is south of Butler Boulevard, to the Florida Blue Campus north of Butler. The sites are east of Southside Boulevard.

The staffing company downsized from about 144,000 square feet of space in Deerwood South at 10151 Deerwood Park Blvd. to 82,000 square feet of space at the Florida Blue Campus. Danis Builders LLC was the contractor.

Adecco Group is leasing the first, fifth and sixth floors of the six-story building and is putting its name at the top of the building. The third and fourth floors are vacant.

Maddi credited Mindy Holden, U.S. vice president of procurement and real estate for The Adecco Group, and her team for the project.

“Because of their hard work and their passion, they pulled this together for us,” Maddi said.

The space is designed to accommodate the needs of 500 employees in Jacksonville who will work on a hybrid system.

The offices have about 325 workstations and extensive collaboration space in rooms and open areas.

Employees have been working remotely since the pandemic began in 2020 and will return as needed. Each department has its own needs of where and how employees work.

Laurie Chamberlin, head of LHH Recruitment Solutions, North America at The Adecco Group, said the building was “a place where people want to come and see each other.”

“A lot of what we do is people-oriented,” she said.

The office space was designed with staff and leadership needs in mind.

The build-out includes open spaces, healthy air quality and lighting and other eco-friendly elements. 

The desks are sit-stand and all areas are equipped with high-tech access.

There are focus rooms for employees needing space for calls or interviews; conference rooms of different sizes; seating areas with sofas and chairs; window counters and other areas.

There are two mothers’ rooms and two meditation rooms.

On the ground floor, the Oasis food service area provides a large seating area and grab-and-go food and drinks for sale at a kiosk.

A plant wall in the ground-floor lobby is the start of greenery throughout the other two floors, including a live and colorful moss wall on the sixth floor.

The fifth and sixth floors mirror each other for the most part. Workstation areas are defined by “neighborhood,” such as legal and compliance; risk; IT; human resources; and other functions.

The conference rooms and other areas carry theme names on each floor – coffee on the first, international countries on the fifth and the beach on the sixth.

The “Agora” space on the fifth floor is for informal team meetings and information-sharing. It features stadium seating and tables facing a presentation space.

An “Innovation” area features high-top tables, a counter bar, kitchenette and whiteboards. 

The Florida Blue Campus comprises seven buildings and a conference center that is next to Building 800. The insurer has opened up some space for lease to other tenants, such as Florida Blue.

The campus includes walking trails, an on-site fitness center, food options and other amenities.

The company donated much of its used furniture and extra office supplies to organizations that include Habitat for Humanity of Jacksonville, Rethreaded, Northeast Florida Women Veterans, Operation New Uniform, City Rescue Mission, Grains of Rice, Duval Country Public Schools and others. 

In total, Adecco Group donated about 500 workstations, 100 office setups and 25 conference room setups.

“Through these partnerships, we’ve been able to divert 160,000 pounds from going to the landfill,” Holden said.

The Adecco Group has been in Jacksonville since the company bought MPS Group for $1.3 billion in January 2010. 

Before the buyout MPS was headquartered in the 37-story Downtown building now known as the Wells Fargo Center. The tower was then named for MPS’ major subsidiary, Modis. (Modis is now Akkodis.)

The Adecco Group moved its offices from Downtown in 2011 to the Deerwood South building.

In 2014, that building became Adecco Group’s North American headquarters as the company consolidated operations from its previous headquarters office in Melville, New York. 

That year, Adecco Group North America also leased two floors – the 10th and 12th – at Riverplace Tower on the Downtown Southbank to accommodate corporate jobs.

The Adecco Group said in February 2021 it was moving those headquarters from Jacksonville to Atlanta, but said its business center would remain in Jacksonville.

Throughout the moves, The Adecco Group retained the marble boardroom table.

It started at the 12th floor in Riverplace Tower before moving to Deerwood South and now the Florida Blue Campus.