IBM to create 800 IT jobs in Missouri

5/19/2010 9:38 AM

IBM recently announced that it will soon begin hiring for a new data center in Columbia, Missouri. The center will serve as one of the primary locations for the company's outsourcing clients and is expected to be open in a limited capacity by the fall.

While the facility will not be fully operational until 2012, IBM expects to occupy it for the next decade and create 800 jobs. The company and the Missouri state government agreed to a 10-year lease with additional option years for both IBM and the state. Missouri governor Jay Nixon said this was an especially valuable relationship for the state because it will provide new employment opportunities in fast-growing fields that can benefit the state.

"This newest addition to our delivery center portfolio in North America is critical to IBM's ability to offer support at any level - local, regional and global - to provide the flexibility, scalability and security in solutions our clients expect," Tim Shaughnessy, a senior vice president for IBM Global Technology Services, said.

In Missouri, the unemployment rate peaked in October of last year when it reached 9.7 percent. Currently, the state's unemployment rate is around 9.5 percent, which is 0.4 percent lower than the national average, according to the United States Department of Labor.

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