When It Comes to Hiring, There’s No Place Like Home

What would it take to make you say “yes” to a job offer that includes relocating to a new city or state? According to a recent Wall Street Journal article, some Maine companies, including WEX, are working to coax one-time northern New Englanders back home to fill jobs in technology, finance, operations and other high-skill areas. With state unemployment at a near-record low of 3.5%, the article details how recruiters and companies have been using social media “to identify ex-Mainers and graduates from Maine colleges who might be convinced to return to their old stomping ground.”

A case in point is Jay Dearborn, a former Mainer featured in the article who was lured back home last year to become our VP of strategy. Like many young adults in Maine, he left the state for college, and then built his career in metro-New York working as a principal for McKinsey & Co. A chance meeting with WEX CEO Melissa Smith set the wheels in motion for an eventual job offer and relocation back to Maine for Dearborn, his wife, and two children.

“The draw was balance,” says Dearborn. “Maine is an attractive choice because it gives you the space to make both a living and a life. Things move at a saner pace. WEX offered the unique combination of being a global, growing company located in an up-and-coming technology hotspot all while providing the balance and benefits of living in Maine. There is something about the place and the people that get in your bones.”

While Maine is known as “Vacationland” for its extensive coastal and wilderness destinations, the article notes it can be a harder sell to convince people to move here. Smith, also a Maine native, notes that there are a lot of quality-of-life aspects to living in Maine that make a compelling argument for bringing your career and family here.

“We do really well recruiting people who are living in a city, have a young family, and are looking for a different experience for their children. One of the key themes I hear from people we bring to Maine is how comfortable their children feel in the school systems here and their sense of relief from past anxiety,” observes Smith.

The Wall Street Journal article also cites Live and Work in Maine, an organization that helps link people to employment opportunities in the state and provides success stories and information about living and working in Maine. If you’re interested in what WEX has to offer at our Maine headquarters, you can take a virtual tour on The Muse and search job postings at the WEX Career Center.