The Daily Gleaner is reporting this morning that eLearning firm SkillSoft is cutting jobs in Fredericton. I once thought this industry would be a real economic driver for New Brunswick. One industry player in Fredericton told me in the late 1990s that this was to be the next call centre industry only with higher average wages.
Then the dot.bomb hit and the industry was laid waste. It’s my understanding that even Skillsoft was not doing any real elearning work in their Fredericton shop (confirm this if you can). I read in their SEC filing that the Fredericton operation did telesales and customer support – but not content development or the higher end stuff.
I hope this industry can rise again in New Brunswick. I know there are a few folks trying.