But a surge in new hiring indicates Route 128 is holding onto its edge, as a new generation makes the leap from start-ups to established players along the development-packed core between Burlington and Waltham.
“Route 128 is once again becoming that technology belt,’’ said Marcus Tgettis, head of recruiting at Constant Contact, an e-mail marketing company with a fast-expanding headquarters alongside the highway in Waltham. “There is plenty of talent.’’
While Bank of America gets ready to shed 30,000 jobs in global cuts that will probably not spare downtown Boston, a number of tech firms are adding jobs on 128, in some cases at a jaw-dropping rate.
Just ask Tgettis, who was recently lured over from Akamai Technologies by Constant Contact to fill a newly created post as director of talent acquisition.
Sounds like a fun gig, although Tgettis has a lot of talent to chase down.
Constant Contact plans to add 175 workers to its Waltham office this year, boosting the total past the 700 mark, according to a company spokesman. The hires range from Web developers to marketing executives.
To attract the best candidates, Constant Contact is offering some creative perks, such as letting employees spend 10 percent of their time “innovating,’’ whether it’s a hot new product or just a better way of doing things.
There’s even an annual innovation day on which everyone gets together and pitches their best ideas.
Other tech players are also expanding along Route 128, notes Brendan Carroll, research director at Richards Barry Joyce & Partners, a commercial real estate firm in Boston.
NetApp is expanding its footprint in Waltham, adding another 40,000 square feet, while A123 Systems has also found a new home in the city - moving into nearly 100,000 square feet - after making the jump from Watertown, Carroll notes.
And it’s not just the big guys who are expanding the payrolls, but the little guys as well.
Newton educational software startup TenMarks Education recently moved out to an office complex on Route 9 so it could be closer to 128.
