Ottawa-based e-commerce pioneer Shopify has a storied past—one primarily of success and innovation in Canada.
After going public, Shopify’s stock price knew only one direction for years: up.
Until the start of last year, the company seemed invincible. Then the global post-Pandemic unravelling began, and many such invincible firms revealed chinks in their armour.
Laying off 1,000 employees last year did tarnish Shopify’s track record. But the company is determined to rebound this year with conviction, promising improved operational efficiency internally and better products and services as a result externally.
“This time we grow into something more focused, more driven, and more singular in mission,” stated CEO Tobias Lütke in July. “The times demand it of us, and we will rise to the occasion once again.”
Late last year, Shopify introduced a new feature for employees to give them more control over how they’re paid, the first move in a broader shift within the company.
Through “Flex Comp,” employees “can choose exactly how they want to allocate their total reward,” says Shopify.
According to Tech Talent Canada, flexibility was the most important factor for Canadian tech talent in 2022.
In 2023, Shopify is continuing to remold its culture with a bold new clean slate on meetings.
A memo to employees issued this week found the company plans to delete 10,000 scheduled events on worker calendars in order to clear up more than 76,000 combined hours of productivity.
The memo, written by the company’s chief operating officer and leaked to CNN, urges staff top “be really critical” of items added to a calendar, as well as cancelling scheduled meetings.
Kaz Nejatian also encouraged employees to be “super intentional” about their workplace communication such as Slack, which Shopify has described as becoming “bloated, noisy, and distracting.”
It seems that the Canadian fintech is pulling no punches this year.
