E-commerce boom delivers rare jobs boost to Irish economy

"As we move to a new economy and a post-COVID economy, we're going to see some sections growing and this is one of those sections," Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters at the announcement of the jobs. "It's a real boost to our economy and gives people a lot of hope that we can bounce back from this." It follows a similar announcement in neighbouring Britain in June, when DPD said it would create 6,000 new jobs and increase investment in infrastructure to meet the potential longer-term shift in retail habits.

Parcel delivery firm DPD said on Friday it would add 700 new employees in Ireland to keep up with a boom in online shopping, rare jobs boost in an economy where COVID-19 disruption has tripled the unemployment rate. While Ireland's large multinational sector has sheltered its economy from the worst of the crisis, some of Europe's toughest restrictions on domestic activity has left almost 450,000 people or around 15% of the labour force permanently or temporarily unemployed, with the state subsidising the wages of many more.

DPD Ireland, the country's largest courier, whose parent company is majority-owned by France's La Poste, said the roles would be filled across the country after its summer peak sales rose 43% year-on-year as more consumers shopped from home. "As we move to a new economy and a post-COVID economy, we're going to see some sections growing and this is one of those sections," Deputy Prime Minister Leo Varadkar told reporters at the announcement of the jobs.

"It's a real boost to our economy and gives people a lot of hope that we can bounce back from this." It follows a similar announcement in neighbouring Britain in June when DPD said it would create 6,000 new jobs and increase investment in infrastructure to meet the potential longer-term shift in retail habits.