Young professionals no longer need to leave Newcastle for a capital city to pursue a high-flying career.
Business Hunter chief executive Bob Hawes said for a long time, it was just an accepted fact that to go into the professional workforce, young professionals would have to leave the region.
But the region had reached a "critical mass" that was allowing it to retain more of its best and brightest.
"In the last 10 years, we've passed the threshold vacuum in several sectors - like health and education - where there's demand, growth and opportunity for professional services," Mr Hawes said.
"People can realistically seek work here before they have to look elsewhere."
A host of national and international businesses have presence in Newcastle, including consulting giants KPMG and PwC, who both have growing offices in the city's CBD in response to the region's growing economic footprint.
When Nicolette Nawrot moved to Newcastle seven years ago with her young family, searching for more affordable housing and to be closer to family, she assumed she'd have to give up her career at KPMG.
She was recently named partner at the firm's Newcastle office.
"After a year, there was no way we were going back to Sydney," Ms Nawrot said.
"I said to my mentor, 'this is the end for me at KPMG, because I can't be in Sydney'. But she said they'd make it work."
At the time, the firm had no office in Newcastle, but allowed Ms Nawrot to work remotely from her home in Warners Bay.
"In the beginning, it was an unusual concept - this was in 2018, long before working remotely was a thing," she said.
KPMG crunched the numbers for the Newcastle-Hunter - a population of 2.3 million, 3.65 per cent unemployment rate and a five-year job outlook of 159,000 - and decided the region needed its own office, which opened in 2021.
The office is now home to more than 60 employees, including Ms Nawrot.
"They can see the opportunities in Newcastle, the broad range of companies here, it made strategic sense," she said.
"The region's old and new industries are both expanding and changing. That's creating this drive in the market. People are starting to see the vast opportunities.
"People often graduate and leave, and maybe come back once they've got kids like I did. But it doesn't have to be the case anymore. There are jobs here and the big firms are constantly recruiting.
"If you stay, you don't just get stuck at a little practice, you can work at national organisations."
At PwC's Newcastle office, four of its five partners are female, including the recently promoted Anna Donoghoe.
Born and raised in Toronto, Ms Donoghoe said it was always her desire to stay local after graduating from the University of Newcastle.
"I did consider going to Sydney for work after university, but I was fortunate to get a grad role with PwC," Ms Donoghoe said.
During her 18 years with the firm, she's watched Newcastle's economy grow and evolve.
"When I started it was a different client base - it was a lot of mining - but now, there are so many new businesses here all from different industries," Ms Donoghoe said.
"Newcastle is lucky to have some of the big financial services, like NIB and the Greater and Newcastle Permanent under the NGM Group banner."
Data from the past two Census shows the number of people aged 24-to-35 leaving the region is slowing down, and Mr Hawes believes the trend will continue in the upcoming Census.
"It snowballs - the more young professionals or business owners that we can keep here, the more jobs that will create for others looking to stay," he said.
"Young professionals have choice now, and choice is important. It's risky to come to a town where there's nowhere else to go and get stuck with the one employer."
Hunter Means Business is a weekly column proudly flying the flag for the region's economic sector, published every Tuesday. Got a tip? Email jamieson.murphy@newcastleherald.com.au
