One of the world's largest consulting firms plans to nearly double its Atlanta workforce and open a new technology hub.

McKinsey & Co. plans to grow its Atlanta employee headcount from 800 to 1,500 as part of a company-wide push to diversify its workforce, the company announced Thursday in a press release and company blog post.

McKinsey is combining its Client Capabilities Network with its tech ecosystem group to form a new Tech and Innovation hub, it said in the press release. It already leases roughly 64K SF at 725 Ponce de Leon Ave., and a spokesperson told Bisnow it plans to open a new office in Midtown in mid-2023, but declined to specify a location.

The New York firm opened a Digital Capability Center in Midtown in May, located at 210 14th St. NW, according to its website. It signed an 11K SF lease at the building last year, Intelligence360 reported.

McKinsey has been scouting locations in West Midtown, the Atlanta Business Chronicle reported in February. It has no shortage of options — there is 2.1M SF of office space under construction in Midtown, according to JLL's Q2 report, with a vacancy rate of 20.2%. Asking rents in the submarket are above $42 per SF.

In McKinsey's announcement, it called Atlanta "a historical beacon for civil rights" and highlighted its diverse workforce as reasons for its huge expansion, as well as its tech talent base.

"Two years ago, we made a commitment to expand and create a modern and diverse tech workforce. We knew this would mean hiring hundreds of new colleagues," Steve Reis, a senior partner who led McKinsey's Atlanta office for four years, said in a statement. "As we looked at cities across the globe, Atlanta had a magical mix of both diversity and a large pool of tech talent from nearby universities, including four historically Black colleges and universities."

McKinsey recently replaced Reis as head of its Atlanta office with Senior Partner Tiffany Burns, a Black woman. The firm said in the blog post it chose Atlanta to follow an approach to increasing diversity studied in a recent in-house white paper.

"The authors point out that Black workers are underrepresented in corporate roles beyond entry level, dropping from near parity to seven percent at the first promotion," the blog post reads. "They suggest businesses move to locations with a strong Black workforce rather than hoping Black talent will move to them."