Philip Morris International’s U.S. business now employs more than 350 people at its Stamford headquarters, well above the roughly 200 jobs the tobacco company projected when it chose the city for its corporate base in 2021.
PMI, which sells Marlboro and other cigarette brands in markets outside the United States, released the updated figure Tuesday. The count includes only direct employees and excludes contractors, vendor personnel and third-party support staff, the company said.
The headcount has climbed steadily. In a June 2024 interview with the Hartford Business Journal, Stacey Kennedy, CEO of PMI U.S., said the company employed about 225 people in Stamford and was aiming for 300.
Most of the recent growth came from new hiring. PMI has added 95 positions in Stamford since January, a company spokesperson said. Between 10 and 20 roles moved to Stamford after PMI closed its Richmond, Virginia, office, part of a reorganization the company disclosed in its second-quarter filing.
PMI’s Stamford teams handle legal, marketing, communications, human resources, commercial operations, strategy, technology and analytics work, the company said. PMI said it continues to hire across those functions, from early-career staff to senior specialists.
The company declined to name a new headcount target, saying it is focused on building capabilities rather than reaching a specific number.
“Stamford has become an important center for our business and an outstanding place to attract and retain talent,” Kennedy said.
PMI moved its worldwide headquarters from Manhattan to the former UBS building at 677 Washington Blvd. in the summer of 2022, a year after announcing the relocation at an event with Gov. Ned Lamont. The company received no state incentives for the move.
In the U.S., the Marlboro trademark belongs to Altria Group Inc., and PMI sells no cigarettes here. Combustible tobacco still generates most of its worldwide revenue. Smoke-free products accounted for 42% of PMI’s global net revenue in the first half of 2026, the company said.
The company’s U.S. business is focused on smoke-free products, including ZYN, the tobacco-free nicotine pouch brand it acquired through its 2022 acquisition of Swedish Match. Nicotine is addictive in all its forms.
PMI said it has committed more than $1 billion since 2022 to expand domestic manufacturing and now employs more than 3,000 people nationwide. That includes a $1.2 billion ZYN plant in Aurora, Colorado, which began commercial operations in July; a $232 million expansion in Owensboro, Kentucky; more than $37 million in Wilson, North Carolina; and about $50 million for a business solutions center in Tampa, Florida.
