MetLife is relocating 2,600 of its technology and non-sales positions to two newly created campuses in North Carolina, according to a copy of a company memo obtained by Dice News. The memo was distributed several weeks ago and affects roughly 1,300 workers tied to MetLife's Global Technology & Operations business, as well as approximately 1,300 with its U.S. Retail operation, said John Calagna, a MetLife spokesman who confirmed the contents of the memo. The Global Technology & Operations group will be based in Raleigh, N.C., and the U.S. Retail in Charlotte. "We just announced this a couple weeks ago and it's too early to say how many people will relocate," Calagna told us. He said that affected employees will be given an opportunity to apply for positions at other MetLife locations that are closer to their home. MetLife has a large IT presence in Somerset, N.J., but its office there will be closed. It also operates sizable IT organizations in Bloomfield, Conn., and Warwick, R.I. Both of those facilities will shrink as their IT jobs are transferred to Raleigh. The relocation effort will affect more than 10 percent of MetLife's domestic workforce of 23,000. The company has 65,000 employees worldwide. Here's the memo from MetLife's William Wheeler, president Americas, and Marty Lippert, executive vice president Global Technology & Operations:

We have made progress toward achieving our enterprise strategy, including leveraging our scale to improve our current operations. In the U.S., we are implementing a plan to enhance our ability to compete in a challenging economic environment by enabling collaboration, driving efficiencies and reducing expenses. Over the years, as MetLife grew organically and through acquisition, our real estate footprint expanded to more than 30 major non-sales sites across the United States, with a heavy concentration of locations in the Northeast. Many of our buildings are not fully utilized and employee groups are working together on initiatives but are spread across a number of locations. This structure inhibits collaboration and reduces our overall effectiveness. In order to reduce the number of core sites while creating better-designed work facilities for employees, starting this year we will begin to relocate approximately 2,600 non-sales positions in the U.S. to two newly created campuses in North Carolina. These campuses will be located in Charlotte and Raleigh for our U.S. Retail and Global Technology & Operations organizations, respectively. We will also expand our presence in Tampa, Florida. We will also consolidate certain sites to bring our people together, and exit other locations. Sites that we will exit starting this year include Aliso Viejo, California, and Lowell, Massachusetts. We will also relocate associates from Latham, New York, to nearby Troy, New York, and we will begin to exit Somerset, New Jersey. We will be maintaining a presence, but with reduced office space, in Bloomfield, Connecticut; Boston, Massachusetts; Irvine, California; Johnstown, Pennsylvania; and Warwick, Rhode Island. Beginning today, your senior leaders will reach out to you to provide more specific details about our U.S. Location Planning Strategy, and what, if any, impact this will have on you and your teams. We know that changes like this can be distracting, and we would like to assure you that we are committed to making these transitions as smooth as possible. Thank you all for your hard work and dedication to MetLife as we execute on our enterprise strategy.