New Jersey-based company to employ 500 people at new Mesa center
Aug 9, 2018, 4:18 PM | Updated: 9:11 pm
(Twitter/@azcommerce)
PHOENIX — More jobs are coming to the Phoenix area.
A New Jersey-based company had opened a new 50,000-square-foot regional technology and service delivery center in Mesa.
The announcement from Cognizant, a multinational corporation that provides IT services, including digital, technology, consulting, and operations services, was made during a Thursday event.
Gov @dougducey cuts the ribbon on the latest edition to #AZ's growing innovation & technology sector! Congrats to @Cognizant on the latest step in your rapid #AZ expansion – soon to have 3,000 AZ employees! pic.twitter.com/qEjRFbZItQ
— Arizona Commerce (@azcommerce) August 9, 2018
More than 500 new employees would be housed at the new facility, expanding the company’s statewide workforce to nearly 3,000 employees at facilities in Phoenix, Chandler and Mesa.
Gov. Doug Ducey, who was in attendance for the ribbon-cutting, said Cognizant chose to open another center in Arizona due to the state’s available workforce and education system.
“When they look at our workforce, they look at our education system…[they said] this is going to be one of our fastest-growing hubs in the country,” Ducey said Thursday.
The company invested $4.5 million in the Mesa facility as “part of an aggressive Arizona expansion,” according to a press release. It has hired more than 500 employees over the last 18 months, not including the new positions that were announced Thursday.
The new jobs in Mesa will be for “full-time, highly-skilled technology and business professionals who provide business process services as well as software application development and maintenance,” the release said.
“Cognizant is an exciting addition to Mesa,” Mayor John Giles said in a statement.
“Their decision to expand to Mesa is a great endorsement of our business-friendly environment and the work they do to help companies transform their business with specialized technology is at the epicenter of the IT industry.”
Cognizant also announced a new partnership with Maricopa Corporate College to provide technical training for in-demand digital economy jobs.
Not only is @Cognizant making a $4.5 million capital investment in #AZ, the company is also driving our state's tech talent pipeline w/ a new training program w/ @mcccd! pic.twitter.com/MwoqR3HjhZ
— Arizona Commerce (@azcommerce) August 9, 2018
The training will be free-of-cost to those selected to participate and will start this fall, focusing on application support and infrastructure services.
Those who finish the program will be able to interview for jobs within the company.