Move over Silicon Valley: Arizona is continuing its tech growth

Cognizant, one of the largest technology recruiters and employers in the country, has opened their newest U.S. regional technology and service delivery centers in Mesa.

“Arizona has an important economy. Your state is home to about 2,500 of our associates,” said DK Sinha, President, Global Client Service, Cognizant “We love being here and so do our clients.”

The company currently supports a number of clients throughout Maricopa County. They said that the environment in Arizona – specifically, the work-life balance and good schooling opportunities – is what drew them to the state.

Arizona Governor Doug Ducey was at the grand opening to welcome the company, “I was just given a great tour of these world-class, Cognizant facilities and training centers and I want to tell you, this is enough here to make any Silicon Valley company envious.”

The company added 600 jobs in Arizona over the last 18 months and their Mesa center is expected to add 500 more.

“That’s 1,100 jobs in total, bringing the Cognizant workforce in our state to nearly 3,000,” Ducey said. “The fact Cognizant, an innovator in transforming the way the world does business, continues to grow this rapidly in our state is a testament to the fact that Arizona has a talented workforce, resources, and a business-friendly environment that the leading companies in the world, around the globe, need.”

Ducey believes that Cognizant deciding to continue its growth in Arizona is an example of the innovative and technology-driven clientele that Arizona is attracting.

“The company’s $4.5 million capital investment this year in the new Mesa facility is part of an aggressive Arizona expansion,” said Cognizant in their press release.

“Cognizant is an exciting addition to Mesa,” Mesa Mayor John Giles said in a press release. “Their decision to expand to Mesa is a great endorsement of our business-friendly environment.”

In a report by CompTIA Cyberstates, Arizona currently ranks 18th in net tech employment among the 50 states and District of Columbia. They also reported that in the last year the state saw a 21.2 percent increase in the number of job postings related to emerging technologies.

Cognizant also announced a partnership with Maricopa Corporate College that will provide technical trainings for in-demand digital economy jobs. The trainings will be provided at no cost to the selected participants and will start being held this fall. They will focus on Application Support and Infrastructure services.

Cognizant is stationed out of New Jersey and is “focused on helping clients navigate an ever-changing business and digital technology landscape.” The company added roughly 6,000 U.S. employees last year and plans to hire at least 25,000 over the next five years.