🔴 The move of 1,225 Liberty Mutual workers from Dover to Portsmouth will take most of 2023

🔴Payments will continue from the city's biggest tax payer

🔴Margaret Joyce, President of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce, hopes that the company will continue to have a presence in the city.


 

Liberty Mutual, Dover's largest source of tax revenue, is moving its workforce to Portsmouth, but City Manager Mike Joyal said the company will continue to pay taxes on the buildings until they're sold.

The insurance company will soon begin moving the 1,225 workers from the two buildings on Liberty Way to the Portsmouth office 15 miles away on Borthwick Avenue. Another 770 workers assigned to Dover who are permanently working from home will also be reassigned.

"We continually evaluate ways to create workspaces where our hybrid workforce can come together with purpose to collaborate, innovate, and connect. At the same time, we aim to be fiscally and environmentally responsible by optimizing our offices and reducing unused space," company spokesman Glenn Greenberg told Seacoast Current.

Greenberg said the move will take most of the year to complete, and no one is losing their job. Liberty Mutual has been in Dover since 1996.

Paying Taxes on Empty Buildings

Joyal told Seacoast Current that while the city is disappointed to see Liberty Mutual leave, he expects that the company will continue to pay taxes on the property.

"Dover is our largest taxpayer. That's not going to change. That property will continue to be taxed. Liberty is a very successful company and we expect that they will continue to make their tax payments, and we will work with them as they look to dispose of the buildings to repurpose them, whether it's for some other corporate entity or some other suitable use. Those buildings will stay active," Joyal said.

The property is valued at $69.7 million, according to city tax records.  The company paid $1.3 million in taxes.

No Advance Warning

Joyal said that the city administration did not have a heads up from Liberty Mututal after their decision. But he's not surprised the company is consolidating, given that more people continue to work from home after the pandemic.

"Clearly, corporations across the country, if not around the world, are making adjustments in their workplaces because of the success they've seen with having workers work remotely and the lack of the need for large corporate office spaces," Joyal said.

Greenburg said the company employs approximately 3,100 between Dover and Portsmouth.

"Today, that footprint has seats for more than 4,500 employees. However, going forward, we anticipate requiring 500-1,200 seats on a daily basis for our hybrid workforce."

Margaret Joyce, President of the Greater Dover Chamber of Commerce hopes that the company, a long time member, will continue to have a presence in the city.

"Many of Liberty's employees live in Dover and the surrounding area, and will no doubt continue to be active members of the community—shopping at our local retailers and dining at our restaurants, etc," Joyce said.

Contact reporter Dan Alexander at Dan.Alexander@townsquaremedia.com or via Twitter @DanAlexanderNH

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