Grow Remote Careers Club with Brendan Ring and Solange Solange Van DijkWe are excited to announce a fantastic opportunity for our community in Portugal! Otonomee, a purpose-built, fully remote company in the outsourcing industry, is opening 50 remote positions for candidates from all over the country, including the mainland, Madeira, and the Azores. About Otonomee Founded in 2020, Otonomee offers a unique alternative to traditional BPOs. With a mission to deliver growth, provide choice, and elevate experiences, their approach not only supports scaling brands but also offers employees the best ..read more

Growing up in rural Ireland Mary-Theresa faced many challenges in her life. With an elderly father and a mother who had mental health issues, she had to take on a lot of responsibilities from a very young age. Being an only child, she often had to act like a parent herself. School was very difficult for Mary-Theresa. She was bullied terribly and suffered from harsh physical punishments from teachers. Eventually she developed a stammer as a result of this difficult environment.  “The bullying in national school was horrific as was the extreme corporal punishment. I had no one to fight m ..read more

On the small island of Valentia, off the coast of Kerry, is a vibrant community of remote workers. Over 15 percent of the working population of Valentia works remotely, a number that local community member Colum O’Connell is hoping will continue to grow over the coming years.  Colum is the Local Leader of the Grow Remote Valentia chapter and over the past few years has been committed to helping locals who want to stay or move back to Valentia to get remote jobs, and also to attracting new people and families to the island.  Employment was always the biggest issue in the past for sma ..read more

When you live in a rural or regional location, your access to job opportunities can be limited. Now imagine how limited the job opportunities were for Joe Whelan, living on the small island of Inishturk, off the coast of County Mayo. But Joe’s story tells us that it doesn’t have to be that way – that opportunity can everywhere, even in the most remote places. You just need to know how to find it. With a population of only 60 people and only 8 or 9 full time jobs available on the island, Joe always assumed that he would have to leave Inishturk to work on the mainland. And with limited ferry c ..read more

The biggest question on our minds today at Grow Remote is this. Why are remote jobs – which are open to everyone across the country – still landing in urban areas, rather than being distributed more equally across the country? Why are candidates in rural locations being told by recruiters that there are no remote jobs in their area?  What is the problem? And more importantly, how can we solve it? The reality is that, despite the potential for remote work to transform how we live and work, there are still many systematic barriers that are preventing us from realising its full potential.&n ..read more

One of the biggest problems with remote work today is that there are hundreds of companies hiring remotely but only a small percentage of candidates who know where to find these jobs. For most people, finding a fully remote job still feels like a secret that only the privileged few have access to. At Grow Remote we know that ‘hiring by community’ is the key to unlocking this secret – we educate people in local communities and they in turn spread the word locally. And nothing demonstrates this better than the story of Rebecca and Kat. After working in an office for 15 years, Rebecca moved to L ..read more

10.30 Joint Committee on Rural and Community Development CR4, LH 2000 (11.00) Smart Community Initiative Seán Canney, Minister of State at the Department of Rural and Community Development and the Department of Communications, Climate Action and Environment with special responsibility for natural resources, community affairs and digital development Representatives from Grow Remote, Tracy Keogh, Co-founder; Paul Ellingston, Chapter Lead © Houses of the Oireachtas ..read more

A local community event hosted by Grow Remote – Dublin. Following the successful Grow Remote Dublin chapter event in March, the remote workers of Dublin will return to the Hole in the Wall pub to connect, network and discuss the potential for social impact locally in the city. On the night, the conversation will be led by special guests: Senator Emer Currie, Remote & Flexible Work advocate Dónal Kearney – Community Manager at Grow Remote Senator Currie is the leading advocate for remote working in the Dáil while Dónal connects daily with the thousands of remote workers who make up Grow Re ..read more

LOETB, in collaboration with IDA Ireland, SOLAS, and Grow Remote, has created this training program to develop the skillset required of learners wishing to enter into employment in the area of Remote Work. Last year we trained almost a thousand people about remote work. This year our work continues. Here’s a few words from our learners this year. Rachel I am really enjoying the course so far. The group and the hosts Andy and June are really friendly, supportive  and helpful in sharing information. Enjoyed the break out rooms and discussions.  Eugene I’m half way through the Thriving ..read more

Remote work could be as transformative for people living outside of our cities as the Rural Electrification Scheme, which brought electricity to 1.75 million people and opened up unlimited opportunities for rural development. But the data this week from the CSO tells us what we already knew from our work on the ground – that we still have some distance to travel. The income gap between the richest and poorest counties in Ireland has grown and will continue to grow unless we take decisive action.  The highest disposable incomes in Ireland by county are in Dublin, followed by Lime ..read more