S&P Data closes 2 New Brunswick locations, lays off employees at 3 Ontario sites

S&P Data closedits two business services centres in New Brunswickon Friday, putting 245people in the province out of work, and laid off about 300 employees at its three Ontario locations.

Chief operating officerDavid Borts blames the unexpected overnight loss of business from the company's largest and New Brunswick'sonly client.

"The way that they have treated us is shocking, frankly," said Borts, who is based in San Diego. "We feel that both our employees and our company are victims here."

S&P is working to replace the lost businesseither through existing clients or new clients and is "very hopeful" it willbe able to reopen theSaint John and Edmundstonlocations and rehire associates there, as well as in Toronto, Trenton and Hamilton, said Borts.

He declined to identify the client that failed to meet its "capacity commitment," citing confidentiality, but did say it's in the telecommunications sector and has been doing business with S&P for about 20 years.

S&Pserves a variety of Fortune 500 companies in several industries, including energy, financial services and fintech. In 30 years, it has never had layoffs before, said Borts.

There is no set deadline to drum up new business, he said, but "we know that time is of the essence."

Got $584K from N.B.

The Saint John and Edmundstonclosures comejust one year after S&P set up shop in New Brunswick with millions in pledged support from the provincial government.

Opportunities New Brunswick has paid $584,000 of the $5.3 million committed under the terms of the two agreements, said spokesperson Jim Hennessy.

The funding includedan upfront contribution of $450,000 when S&P Data met the requirements, which included signing a long-term lease and employing over 200 people, said Hennessy.

ONB has also paid $134,000 on the Saint John payroll rebate for 2018, he said.

Payroll rebates are designed to be performance-based and are only disbursed to a company once it has created and maintained the jobs for at least one year and provided proof of salary levels and employment.

The Crown corporation is "disappointed," Hennessy said in an email.

"We are thinking about the affected employees, their families and their communities," he said.

No advance notice

The affected employees include:

• Saint John: 158
• Edmundston: 87
• Toronto: 40 of about 300
• Trenton: 110 of about 180
• Hamilton: 150 of about 400

Thosescheduled to work Friday morning were notified when they arrived, said Borts, while those onlater shifts were notified by phone.

Their base salaries ranged from about $11.50 an hour to $15 an hour, or $30,000 a year, he said.

Borts could not provide any specifics on severance, but said S&P is working with ServiceCanada to ensure it's in compliance with all federal and provincial laws.

The company is also working withOpportunities New Brunswick to put together some assistance programs, he said.

Opportunities New Brunswick's workforce attraction specialists and staff at the Department of Post-Secondary Education Training and Labour are available to offer services to affected employees, said Hennessy.

"We understand there are vacancies in the business services centre sector in both regions of the province and ONB will be working to connect the impacted employees with these open positions," he said.

739 jobs were expected in N.B.

The Saint John location, which was announced on March 28, 2018,was expected to create about 450 jobs over five years.

About 300 people had been working at the east side location at Loch Lomond Place until recently, Borts confirmed. He attributed thecutback to 158 to being "pure seasonality."

"The line of business that we had peaks in the fourth quarter and then shrinks in the first quarter," he said.

S&P Data had signed a seven-year lease at Loch Lomond Place. The mall landlord, Crombie REIT,declined to comment.

The Edmundstonlocation at the Madawaska Centre was expected to employ up to 289 people within five years.

S&P has invested more than $7.5 million in infrastructure, leases and training in New Brunswick, said Borts.

"The folks in New Brunswick had welcomed S&P Data with open arms and they were absolutely amazing." he said.

We "are going to do whatever we can do to retain the sites and continue to build on what we've built there in the past 15 months."

The company's other locationsinclude:St. John's, Cleveland, Rio Rancho and Troy.