Garmin Canada announces Alberta expansion despite other tech turmoil
Global News
A tech giant with its headquarters in Alberta is bucking the recent trend of downsizing and instead expanding in the community of Cochrane.
Tech giant Garmin Canada has announced plans to further expand in Alberta, including hiring hundreds of additional employees.
The company, known globally for its cutting-edge GPS, fitness and outdoor technology, has unveiled the addition of a third floor to its existing building in Cochrane, which is also its Canadian headquarters.
The expansion will nearly double Garmin’s employment in the town and allow it to make room for 200 new local science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) jobs.
“We moved here less than five years ago, employing a little over 100 people. Today we’re poised to cross the 200 mark and are running out of room,” Garmin Canada’s managing director Jim Rooney said.
“We’re just to the point right now where we’ve filled the building and we need a place to continue to grow.”
The company officially made Cochrane its home in 2018.
Unlike many other tech giants, it currently does not have any plans for downsizing or laying off staff. Rooney credits that to smart managing.
“When the economy was going crazy, we didn’t go and over-spend and we didn’t take on more than we could handle,” he pointed out.
