PwC Plans Research Arm for Tampa Bay

PricewaterhouseCoopers announced plans to bring more than 300 new jobs to the Tampa Bay in the next two years as part of a new knowledge services organization.

The KSO will be part of the firm's existing facilities in Tampa Bay Park, an industrial park where 1,500 of the firm's financial, information technology, human resources and other staff already work. The firm also employs 185 accounting, advisory and tax professionals at its client service office in downtown Tampa.

The KSO will act as a research arm for the public accounting giant's 30,000 employees across the nation, where they can seek help about industry trends or technical knowledge of interest to a client, or in locating a professional within the firm to solve a particularly complex problem, the company said.

"The new KSO will help create a knowledge-sharing culture in our firm that will enable us to provide more comprehensive services to our clients," said national KSO leader Doug Thomas, in a statement.The firm will invest nearly $7 million in construction, renovation and other equipment and will add 60,000 square feet to its offices to accommodate this growth. The new positions will be at salaries exceeding 150 percent of the state's average annual wage, qualifying the firm for Florida's Qualified Target Industry Tax Refund program.

For reprint and licensing requests for this article, click here.
Audit M&A
MORE FROM ACCOUNTING TODAY