Toronto-Dominion Bank is looking to hire 200 technology workers at its office in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, to take advantage of a growing talent pool in the region.

The hires, which will take place over the next two years, are part of a tech-hiring blitz that the Toronto-based bank announced in January. The bank said at the time that it plans to hire more than 2,000 tech workers this year, more than six times the number it added in 2021.

For the Fort Lauderdale office, the bank is focusing on software engineers and staff skilled in security programs, among other jobs, said Greg Keeley, senior executive vice president for platforms and technology. The region has seen an increase in tech talent in recent years, accelerated by the pandemic, because of the universities in the area and quality-of-life factors like the weather.

The hiring plan is “really around getting access to, making our footprint known and really engaging in the South Florida talent market, given how fast it’s growing and the types of resources that are moving here,” Keeley said in an interview.

The plan includes a partnership with the Alan B. Levan – Nova Southeastern University Broward Center of Innovation, a tech accelerator and startup incubator, to help with recruitment, the bank said in a statement.

Toronto-Dominion has had a retail-banking presence in Florida for more than a decade. The lender in February agreed to buy regional bank First Horizon Corp. for $13.4 billion, a deal that would allow the Canadian firm to expand in the U.S. Southeast.

– By Kevin Orland (Bloomberg Mercury)