Editor's Note: This piece was initially published Oct. 25 on the Charlotte Business Journal, and is reposted here with permission. It has been edited for Inno style.
One of the best-known names in technology will invest $23.9 million in expanding its Charlotte campus, bringing hundreds of new jobs to the city.
Microsoft Corp., which employs north of 1,000 people at a campus off Arrowood Road in south Charlotte, will add 430 jobs at its local office, N.C. Gov. Roy Cooper said during an economic development announcement Friday morning. The average wage of the new jobs is pegged at $98,711. That's about $32,000 more than the average annual wage of $66,709 in Mecklenburg County.
The new jobs will require "high technical skills," said Reggie Isaac, Microsoft Charlotte campus director, but he declined to provide specifics on the roles being sought.
The state of North Carolina will provide Microsoft with a Job Development Investment Grant of $7.9 million during a 12-year period. Those incentives were approved by the state's Economic Investment Committee earlier on Friday morning.
The Charlotte Business Journal first reported the local expansion by Microsoft was the rumored topic of a "major" economic development announcement scheduled for Friday morning. The event was held at the Charlotte Regional Business Alliance's headquarters in uptown.
The expansion is the latest in a wave of tech jobs announced for the city within the past year. Existing local companies like AvidXchange Inc. and LendingTree Inc. are growing with new headquarters buildings, and Lowe's Cos. Inc. is bringing a major tech hub to South End. Meanwhile, new-to-market groups like Better.com and Mitsubishi UFJ Financial Group expect to add hundreds or thousands of new jobs, many in the financial technology sector.
In 2015, Microsoft employed 1,100 in Charlotte, largely consisting of sales and support staff for the company's business and corporate customers in the Southeast. Current posted jobs for Microsoft in Charlotte — of which there are 77 — primarily include roles in support engineering. Isaac declined to provide a current headcount at Microsoft's local office.
