Adecco move from Melville means more than 200 LI jobs go to Florida

Staffing giant Adecco will consolidate its North America headquarters in Florida by year's end, displacing more than 200 Melville workers, a company spokeswoman said Wednesday.

The unit of Switzerland-based Adecco S.A., the world's largest staffing agency, plans to sell its building at 175 Broad Hollow Rd. on the Route 110 corridor and move its headquarters to Jacksonville, Fla., where Robert Crouch, chief executive of North America operations, maintains his office.

After the transition is completed by year's end, the Adecco spokeswoman said in an email, about 250 jobs will remain on Long Island, including employees of a service center and an information management unit.

Adecco said the move is contingent upon economic incentives from the city of Jacksonville and the state of Florida. A spokeswoman at the Florida Department of Economic Opportunity said "confidentiality parameters" could preclude disclosure of details of any financial incentives.

"While this was a difficult decision," the Adecco spokeswoman said, "it was a necessary one" in pursuit of greater efficiency.

Anthony Manetta, executive director of the Suffolk County Industrial Development Agency, said he was surprised by Adecco's move.

"They didn't reach out to us, and we didn't have any knowledge that they were considering such a move," he said.

A former Adecco worker who asked not to be named because of possible recriminations to friends who remain at the company said "emotions ran from anger to sadness" when employees were informed. "It's a shock when an institution decides to pack up and ship off the Island."

All Adecco employees in Melville whose jobs are moving to Florida will be eligible to apply for positions in Jacksonville, and the company will offer employment assistance for those remaining in the Long Island area, the spokeswoman said.

The 130,000-square-foot building at 175 Broad Hollow Rd. was the headquarters of Olsten Staffing until 2000, when Adecco acquired its Melville-based rival in a $1.6 billion deal.

A decade later, Adecco acquired Jacksonville-based MPS Group, for $1.3 billion.

Crouch, who had been the chief financial officer of MPS, was tapped to head Adecco Group North America in 2012.

Adecco S.A. provides temporary and permanent staffing services in more than 60 countries and territories.