PhillyDeals: Towers Watson to hire 400 in Mount Laurel

Towers Watson & Co.

, a corporate-consulting firm based in New York, says it plans to hire 400 people over the next two years for a new call center it is creating in Mount Laurel, to handle calls for its

OneExchange

unit.

OneExchange is one of the private online health-insurance markets set up in response to the Affordable Care Act. Most states have established their own exchanges or adopted the federal government's model.

"It's a huge step for us," Frank Giampietro, Center City-based head of Towers Watson's Philadelphia region, told me. The company also employs 650 in Center City (at the former headquarters of predecessor Towers Perrin) and 50 at its Berwyn satellite office. An additional 200 reinsurance workers were spun off into JLT Towers last year.

The ACA, also known as Obamacare, set up a federal exchange for uninsured people as a model for other states and for new private exchanges - OneExchange is an example of a private exchange created by a company. The law also set standards and minimums for health plans, making it easier for insurers to offer plans that employers and consumers can compare online through the exchanges, Giampietro said.

By picking plans off the shelf, employers can reduce the time they spend building and running their own benefit menus, much as 401(k) plans freed employers to transfer retirement investing to professional fund companies. They also introduced employees to the risks of the markets.

Companies that use exchanges may avoid the excise tax the United States has imposed on high-end company health plans, Giampietro said.

Towers Watson has call centers focused on other services in Pittsburgh, Minneapolis, and San Diego.

Why add Mount Laurel?

"A big factor was the talent pool," Giampietro said. South Jersey has been a center for insurance and mortgage call centers, and the region is one of the nation's hospital hubs. Towers Watson will recruit from both workforces.

Also, the site near the New Jersey Turnpike and I-295 makes it a relatively easy drive for corporate clients and prospects along the East Coast.

Did New Jersey taxpayers subsidize the move? No, says Giampietro. "That was not a factor," he added.

Towers Watson looked at sites in Center City, too.

"But when we tried to find a space where we could pull people to work, a suburban campus rated higher than an urban location" for both client and prospective worker convenience, he said.