Fidelity to close Massachusetts office with 1,100 jobs

BOSTON (Reuters) - Fidelity Investments plans to close an operation in Marlborough, Massachusetts, and move many of the 1,100 jobs there to other New England locations, a spokeswoman for the giant fund firm said.

Fidelity spokeswoman Anne Crowley said the company plans to close the office by next year and to offer many workers there jobs at other locations, including in Merrimack, New Hampshire, and in Smithfield, Rhode Island. There will be "a small number" of layoffs, she added.

After the job cuts and the financial crisis Fidelity was left with excess real estate, Crowley said, leading to its decision to shut down the facility in Marlborough, where it owns two buildings and leased a third. "We decided it made sense to consolidate the New England workforce," she said.

Fidelity now intends to sell both buildings it owns, each with about 700,000 square feet of space.

In the Marlborough office, Fidelity had run units handling 401(k) savings accounts, payroll and healthcare arrangements for corporate clients.

(Reporting by Ross Kerber; Editing by Steve Orlofsky)