Adecco opens payroll shared services center in New York

19 September 2008:

Rochester Technology Park welcomed a new tenant Friday, holding a big ceremony for a Swiss company known for its employment services and Fortune 500 status.

U.S. Sen. Hillary Clinton, D-N.Y., and Monroe County Executive Maggie Brooks were on hand to cut the ceremonial ribbon, welcoming the company's local expansion.

The company opened earlier this summer, putting 60 full-time staffers into its 13,000-square-foot building at 158 Wallace Way.

Adecco, which has its U.S. headquarters on Long Island, recently decided to locate its national payroll office here, largely because of the educational excellence of the area, said Tig Gilliam, chief executive of Adecco Group North America.

The Gates office will focus on payroll, but its workers will be a mix of human resources staffers and number crunchers.

Gilliam said the company considered locating in a lower-tax state in the South, but the work force in New York was ideal.

"The most important thing for us is talent," said Gilliam. "There are 19 universities right here. ... If I wanted to cut costs, I would have gone to China or India."

Adecco is one of the world's largest employment companies, with revenues of $29 billion. The company has placed about 1,000 people at businesses in the Rochester area and 500,000 nationally. The office will handle Adecco checks for all of the United States.