Shopify, the high profile, pandemic-accelerated platform for online commerce, has cut 10% of its workforce in order to deal with the difficulties brought on by the slowing growth of e-commerce and its deteriorating financial performance in the midst of a general market selloff in the technology sector. Most of the affected jobs are in sales, accounting, and recruiting, however, Shopify is also eliminating jobs in “over-specialized and duplicate positions.” The company is considering additional layoffs before the end of this year if its core business continues to slow. CEO Tobi Lutke said, “We bet that the channel mix – the share of dollars that travel through e-commerce rather than physical retail – would permanently leap ahead by 5 or even 10 years…It’s now clear that bet didn’t pay off. Ultimately, placing this bet was my call to make and I got this wrong. Now, we have to adjust.”Shopify informed The Globe earlier this month that it was rescinding internship and other job offers for individuals who were scheduled to start working this fall. Shopify informed staff members at a town hall meeting in April that their compensation packages would change by July, giving them the choice of how much of their salary is paid in shares and how much in cash in an effort to lessen employee resentment among those who saw the value of their compensation decline this year as a result of the company’s declining stock price.
Shopify Cuts 10% of Staff As CEO Tobias Lutke Apologizes For Big Bets On E-commerce, Admits He ‘got this wrong’
