Premier Brian Gallant’s promise to create jobs in New Brunswick received a shot in the arm Wednesday as 100 full-time positions were announced for Fredericton.
The new positions will be based in the cyber security field, where IBM already employs 7,500 researchers, developers and experts over 36 worldwide locations.
“This is going to further cement our capabilities in the tech sector and innovative and IT here in New Brunswick,” said Gallant.
Gallant says the move will help strengthen the foundation in information security for the country and beyond.
For each position, a subsidy of $12,000 will be paid back to IBM by Opportunities New Brunswick. The total will be $1.2 million once all roles have been filled.
With estimated salaries of $75,000 per year, the positions are not likely to go unfilled, but some question why taxpayers ended up on the hook for it.
“There are costs associated with recruitment, costs associated with training, costs associated with ramping people’s skills up,” said IBM Canada General Manager David Drury.
“This is something that happens with all jurisdictions. What we do here in New Brunswick I believe is the right balance,” said the premier.
“We ensure that for the most part, all of the incentives would be from payroll rebates. What this does is it makes sure that we can put incentives on the table for people to invest and grow here in New Brunswick but at the same time we’re protecting taxpayers money.”
Opportunities New Brunswick says they will make another announcement Thursday morning in Saint John.