North Carolina Job Incentive Programs Fall Short as $2.7B Creates Half of Promised Jobs
Only 99,935 jobs out of 211,881 promised through North Carolina’s $2.7 billion incentive program came through in five years. Companies ended up getting just $233 million in payments.
The state faced six job deals falling apart in 2025, showing a big jump in failed deals. Two companies didn’t even turn in the required paperwork about their promises.
Broken promises keep stacking up across North Carolina. While Microsoft backed out of its plans in Charlotte and Morrisville, other companies just moved workers from other states instead of creating new local jobs.
“Once the incentives program was launched, employees were finally getting recognized and rewarded for their direct contributions in improving the bottom line of the company. The bias to action, focus, and willingness to go after the full potential increased virtually overnight,” said a representative of McKinsey.
Companies get away with breaking promises without any real pushback under current rules. Watchdogs are calling for tougher rules, including taking back money when companies miss their targets. While the state signs about 28 new Job Development Investment Grant deals each year, 15 deals have fallen through in the past five years. This year’s failures might top last year’s total of 20 failed projects.
Instead of creating new growth, the program mostly moves existing jobs around. Companies usually just transfer employees across state lines rather than hiring local workers.
Officials are looking at stricter tracking systems. New rules would lay out what’s expected and set actual consequences for missing goals. When done right, these programs can help boost profits. But success depends on tying rewards directly to actual results.
