Shopify announces plans to hire 1,000 employees for downtown Vancouver office
Credit to Author: Harrison Mooney| Date: Tue, 28 Jan 2020 23:15:15 +0000
Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has announced plans to hire 1,000 employees and open its first permanent office in Vancouver.
The Ottawa-based company, which provides e-commerce businesses a space to sell their own products, said Tuesday that it will be adding backend developers, data engineers, mobile developers, web developers, product designers and product managers in the city — a major boon to Vancouver’s growing tech sector.
“Our mission has always been to make commerce better for everyone, and in order to continue this work, we’re committed to hiring a world-class, cross-disciplinary team with a focus on software development in Vancouver,” the company said.
“We chose Vancouver because we’re a proud Canadian company, and we see it as a hub for great talent and potential for continued growth.”
Michelle Mungall, the province’s jobs minister, hailed the announcement as evidence of B.C.’s strong economy and “further proof that B.C. is a preferred place to do business among the world’s leading companies.”
“This proud Canadian company recognizes B.C. for our top talent and potential for continued growth,” she said. “Vancouver is known around the world as a hub for innovation and a highly skilled workforce, which continues to make our province attractive to businesses of all sizes.”
The new office, led by VP of user experience Lynsey Thornton, will be in tower 4 of downtown Vancouver’s Bentall Centre, in a custom-designed, four-floor space set to open later this year.
That means a very easy move for Thornton and other Vancouver Shopify workers, who currently work remotely from a WeWork space across the street.
The Bentall centre in Downtown Vancouver.
“We see a lot of growth happening in Vancouver, but we believe we can offer something different,” said Thornton, in a blog post timed with Tuesday’s announcement. “We’ll be solving real and complex problems that matter to the entrepreneurs we support.”
“It’s always been clear to me that there’s a huge local talent presence here,” added Thornton, who was Shopify’s first Vancouver employee. “This won’t be an office where career growth is limited. It’s our intention to build the best RnD team in the city.”
Shopify has positioned itself as a serious competitor to Amazon in the digital market, successfully convincing shareholders in recent years that they can compete with the Internet giant. As a result, the company’s stock prices surged in 2019, surpassing other online powerhouses like Twitter, Spotify, and Etsy in market valuation.
According to Shopify, businesses on their network have supported $183 billion in global economic activity over the past three years, and their new West Coast hub is part of an ambitious plan for continued growth.
“Our presence in British Columbia is part of a long-term growth strategy and commitment to continuing to expand our presence across Canada,” the company said Tuesday.
Canadian e-commerce giant Shopify has announced plans to hire 1,000 employees and open its first permanent office in Vancouver.
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