Interview: Chuck Sykes

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The pandemic accelerated some trends and introduced new ones that are shaping the future of work

How did demand for your services change over the course of the pandemic? The two words I would associate with the pandemic are acceleration and resilience. All trends that were already unfolding accelerated. And companies today, as they think about the future, are trying to figure out how to make their business model more resilient. We had a lot of clients that began to outsource more because they want to build more resilience into their models. Additionally, consumer demand for greater internet bandwidth and personal computers began to increase because more and more people were working from home. With that, e-commerce-based companies saw great growth as well. So, for many industry segments, it was a fortuitous event but for our travel segment, it was devastating. The hotels, airlines and online booking agencies took a huge hit. But when balancing out across the company, we registered decent growth levels.

What are some of the unfolding consumer trends relating to retail products? It used to be that the office was one of the main domains in which we lived, coupled with our homes and our cars. Now, rather than people going to work, companies are bringing work to people and I believe that will be a trend that sticks. We made an investment based on that trend in 2012 and at that time I thought maybe 30% of our industry workforce of 9 million people would eventually work from home. Now, from what I have seen in the United States alone, we might go to 50% or even 70%, which is the percentage of our staff that is currently working remotely. Not every home environment is conducive to what we do. I think when discussing evolving trends, the world of work has been completely flipped upside down and this will be the future. People are missing face-to-face interactions but there will be ways to cope with that. As far as growth industries, I would concentrate on the two domains of the home and the car, rather than the office.

What makes the Tampa Bay region such a great location for your corporate headquarters? The company was started in Charlotte and we moved the company here in 1992 with 800 employees and about $40 million in revenue per year. The company was privately held but we always had aspirations to take it public. The tax environment in Tampa is very attractive and can make a material difference to a business. I think the amazing thing now is that the state of Florida will continue to grow because of the new world of work where companies take work to people. People will continue to come in droves to Florida for its warm climate and cool living.

Chuck Sykes

President & CEO – Sykes Enterprises

Sean Sullivan

Executive Director – Tampa Bay Regional Planning Council

We like to lend an ear to our local governments to map out their priorities and how we can help shape that conversation into becoming a regional priority. For instance, in the last year, we’ve worked with three county metropolitan planning organizations, which are charged with transportation planning throughout the region. Together, we applied for a grant from the Federal Highway Administration to look at the potential impacts of extreme weather on our transportation network. It was a $250,000 award, including a contribution from the Florida Department of Transportation. The report looked at the impact of storm surges, hurricanes and intense inland flooding.

One of the things we talked about in terms of improving our transportation network was elevating roadways to improve the slope. We also need drainage network and system improvements, such as a backflow preventers on drainage systems.

( ) inquired on available positions to create a pipeline to hire our residents. They let us know the kind of training that is essential for them to stay employed and we were able to create that pipeline.”

The Tampa Bay Partnership’s State of the Region report also showed Tampa’s poverty rate at 12.17%, worsening from 16th to 17th place from a year before, and suggesting that while the region is growing economically, not everyone is benefiting.

Demographic shifts Florida is often considered the retirement state. And while there are many retirement communities in the state due to the lifestyle the area can offer for those who no longer need to work, the Tampa Bay area’s population has tended to skew to the younger side, although it has been steadily increasing in recent years.

As of 2019, the median age in the area was 42.2, with the bulk of the population falling into the 30-39, 50-59 and 60-69 age brackets. There are slightly fewer 65s and over living in the Tampa Bay region compared with the national average. The population is highly educated, with about 90% of 25s and overs reporting at least a high school education and 61% having studied some college or higher-level education.

The two primary ethnicities represented in the region are white at 61% and Hispanic at 21%. About 14.4% of the population is foreign-born, primarily from Latin America. This number is higher than the U.S. rate but comes in below the Florida average of 21.1%. The most common country of origin for foreign-born residents within the state is Cuba, followed by Haiti and Colombia. Tampa Bay has experienced strong net migration in the last five years, both from within the United States and abroad. The Tampa MSA registered 115 new residents every day in 2020, making it fifth in the nation for population growth. Growth is primarily centered on Hillsborough County, which is expected to reach 1.6 million by 2025. There are significant numbers of minority-owned businesses in Tampa Bay, which led to the creation of the Tampa Bay Green Book, a directory listing Black-owned businesses that have historically faced underinvestment. ( )