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GE, which is known for products ranging from light bulbs to jet engines, may be making the move to support its new branding as a technology company. The company’s new headquarters in Boston may afford it more access to younger, tech-savvy talent, according to several reports.
“I find that rationale pretty convincing,” Donald E. Gibson, dean of Fairfield University’s Dolan School of Business, told the Daily Voice. “That and the idea that suburban headquarters of major companies …may be winding down.”
Large corporations used to be located in corporate office parks, Gibson said. IBM settled in suburban Armonk, N.Y., for example, just as GE moved out to its campus Fairfield in 1974. But Gibson said the type of employees that GE is now trying to attract — the coder-type people featured in its commercials — want to live in urban areas.
Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy shared a similar sentiment, explaining that GE had expressed frustration with attracting job applicants from the New York market. The company was looking for "proximity to a more urban environment,” he said.
GE’s current campus is located in suburban Fairfield near the Merritt Parkway and the Easton town line. Its new headquarters is said to be located in Boston’s Seaport District, an up-and-coming urban area near Boston’s downtown.
In Fairfield, GE’s campus is a stone’s throw from Sacred Heart University — whose business school is named after former GE CEO Jack Welch — and within driving distance of Fairfield University.
Gibson said many students from Fairfield University interacted with GE officials or interned with the company. Some went on to work there full time, Gibson said.
Gibson expects the school’s strong connection with GE to continue beyond the move. The school has a great relationship with GE’s Boston recruiters, he said.
GE already has a sizable staff in Massachusetts. Nearly 5,000 of the company’s employees work in the state, according to previous Daily Voice reports.
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