E-learning is part of the wider debate on the changing role of higher education (HE). It is associated with the agenda on graduate employability and competencies for the knowledge economy (KE). Policy documents make explicit that participation in the KE is congruent with the acquisition of meta-skills. The role of HE is to provide for these competencies and e-learning is presented as assisting this objective. A primary prerequisite, however, is appropriate staff development. This qualitative study examines the relationship between the rhetoric and the practice of e-learning, and argues that issues associated with professional development exist at both institute and staff levels.