Radian6 loses 100 jobs
Unclear how many layoffs in New Brunswick
CBC News
Posted: Oct 24, 2012 4:53 PM AT
Last Updated: Oct 24, 2012 7:34 PM AT
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Radian6 has not received any of the $3.8 million payroll rebate from the provincial government yet, says InvestNB. (Acumen Solutions)Radian6 has lost about 100 jobs, CBC News has confirmed.
The news comes just four months after the social media monitoring company announced plans to create 300 new full-time jobs in Fredericton and Saint John with the help of a $3.8-million payroll rebate from the provincial government.
It's unclear how many of the laid-off employees are in New Brunswick.
Officials at parent company Salesforce declined to be interviewed about the job cuts Wednesday, but emailed a statement.
"With the integration of Radian6 and Buddy Media, the Salesforce Marketing Cloud is re-balancing its resources to support its growth, including moving from a hub to a distributed model for certain customer-facing roles, consolidating marketing and dramatically increasing investments in [research and development,]" officials said.
'The New Brunswick economy is slumping and this is not going to help.'—Liberal MLA Roger Melanson, economic development critic
"Fewer than 100 people were impacted globally."
Roger Melanson, economic development critic for the Opposition Liberals, called the news disappointing.
"The New Brunswick economy is slumping and this is not going to help," he said in a statement.
"[Premier] David Alward just gave this company $3.8 million for job creation. Perhaps he has more details on the impact this will have on our province and the employees that have lost their jobs. I'm assuming the company has been in touch with government on this."
No payroll subsidy paid yet
The provincial government cannot confirm how many of the layoffs are in New Brunswick, or where, said InvestNB vice-president Louis-Philippe Gauthier.
But, he said, the government has not given any of the payroll subsidy money to Radian6 yet.
The five-year deal has built in "safeguards," said Gauthier. The money is to be paid based on disclosure from the company's human resources/payroll department and to date, no information has been provided.
If the company does not hit a threshold number of employees or pay level, the provincial government does not pay the full amount, he said.
"The company assures us they are in growth mode," stressed Gauthier. "The company has indicated to us that this is truly a rebalancing after their latest acquisition.
"It is always unfortunate to hear of any layoffs," he added.
Expansion was to generate $8.5M annually
Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud has said the Radian6 workforce expansion would contribute about $8.5 million to the province's gross domestic product annually.
(CBC)When Economic Development Minister Paul Robichaud announced the government's decision to invest in Radian6 in June, he said he expected the company's expansion would contribute about $8.5 million to the province's gross domestic product annually.
The information and technology sector is one of the priority areas for the provincial government when it comes to attracting new jobs, he had said.
Former Liberal cabinet minister Kelly Lamrock expressed concerns about the job losses in a message on Twitter on Wednesday.
"Worried about friends at Radian6. Those jobs help a lot of families, and the story of Radian6 helped our economic reputation," Lamrock wrote.
Radian6, founded in 2006, was acquired by Salesforce.com in March 2011 for $326 million.
The company tracks what's being said about products on social media websites, such as Facebook, Twitter and blogs.
Its clients include global giants, such as Dell, General Electric, Pepsi and Molson.
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