Shopify, a Canadian e-commerce company targeting small and medium-sized businesses, is to create 100 jobs over the next 12 months.
Known as “gurus”, Shopify’s Irish support staff are remote workers meaning they can work wherever they want. The jobs are aimed at individuals interested in supporting business development, commerce and entrepreneurship.
The company, which has been operating in the Republic for two years, has grown from a team of 50 to more than 150, with the majority based remotely across Co Galway.
Caitriona Foley runs a wedding planning business called True Romance Weddings, while raising a young family and working for Shopify as a “customer success guru”.
“I joined Shopify in October 2016, and have honestly never had a job like it,” she said. “I’m a mum of one tenacious toddler and in my spare time I run a wedding planning and stationery business, but also needed a full time job that would pay the bills.
“Working at home for Shopify allows me to meet new challenges every day, get more time with my son and avoid traffic jams while commuting.
“The company genuinely looks after its employees with great benefits and encouragement towards professional development. They recognise that happy employees produce better results.”
Transformative
IDA Ireland chief executive Martin Shanahan said Shopify has "championed a truly transformative style of employment" across the west of Ireland.
“I am delighted that this platform has proven to be such a huge success and is reinvesting in its Irish operations. This is an important endorsement of the talent which is available right across the west of Ireland.”
Minister for Jobs Frances Fitzgerald said she was "very impressed" by Shopify's business model.
“This is a really exciting, innovative company which is paving the way for more flexible and family-friendly forms of working. Their rapid growth in Ireland is a true vote of confidence in what Ireland has to offer cutting-edge companies.”
Shopify director of support for Ireland John Riordan said the company had seen “the benefits of remote culture and how it can be utilised to rejuvenate the west of Ireland and counties like Galway”.
