(Toronto) As a growing number of tech companies lay off workers, Shopify’s president says he doesn’t foresee any further cuts to the Ottawa-based e-commerce solutions specialist’s business.
“There are no cuts coming for us,” Harley Finkelstein told The Canadian Press. We are doing really well. »
His confidence that staff cuts at the company are over comes months after Shopify was among the first global tech giants to announce layoffs. It laid off 1,000 workers last summer, about 10% of its workforce, blaming the move on a poor assessment of the growth of the e-commerce sector.
Since then, few big tech companies have been spared the fading of investor exuberance, plummeting valuations and pressure to achieve profitability, should the generally predicted recession materialize.
Tech giants like Amazon, Meta, Microsoft, Intel and Zoom have slashed their workforce, as have smaller Canadian brands like Wealthsimple, Lightspeed, Clearco and HootSuite.
After Shopify’s cuts, Mr. Finkelstein believes the company holds the right size.
“I don’t think we’re going to increase our number of employees very much,” he said.
I think we can keep it pretty stable, except maybe for a few key hires. »
Asked about sectors that could attract hiring, he said software and product personnel were still in demand because there were fewer of them.
But keeping current staff is just as important. To keep its workers, Shopify relies on Flex Comp, an initiative that gives staff a “rewards portfolio” and allows them to regularly choose between cash and stock options for their compensation.
It was put in place following the Shopify layoffs as the company’s stock came under pressure, falling from a 52-week high of $113.43 to a low of $33.00. .
When designing the program, Shopify conducted an extensive benchmarking exercise to ensure salaries were competitive, but executives warned that Flex Comp would likely weigh on its 2023 outlook.
Historically, staff allocations have been around 70% cash and 30% stock, Finkelstein said.
“I think Q4 allocations may be slightly more cash than these levels, but it’s kind of expected to vary each quarter,” he explained.
“Money gives certainty, but if you understand the business, obviously, you know, equity is what a lot of people want because they also want to be able to participate in the upside. »
Flexibility, another attraction
The company also hopes to remain attractive to talent with a “digital by default” orientation it adopted in 2020, after CEO Tobi Lütke declared the end of “desktop-centricity”.
Since then, most employees have been working from home and Shopify opted out of moving into The Well complex at King Street West, and Spadina Avenue, in downtown Toronto. The business was originally slated to occupy 254,000 square feet at The Well, with the option to add an additional 433,752 square feet.
“We don’t need as much space given the new digital orientation,” Finkelstein said.
Now staff feel like they can move wherever and whenever they want (Mr. Finkelstein is in the process of moving his family to Montreal) and go on a trip on a whim.
For those who want to go to an office, Shopify maintains some locations, including one at the King Portland Centre, not far from The Well. Many people have gathered at company properties in recent weeks, with a series of summits or days where employees can work on whatever they want. Others joined virtually or invited colleagues from the neighborhood to their homes.
“They organized viewing parties […] so I actually think it works very well for us,” Finkelstein said.
He credits this flexibility with helping the company attract popular new hires like Jeff Hoffmeister, who led Shopify’s IPO and has worked for Morgan Stanley since 2000. Mr. Hoffmeister joined the company as chief financial officer, but can work in New York, where Mr. Finkelstein travels frequently.
Around the same time Mr. Hoffmeister joined Shopify, Chief Technology Officer Allan Leinwand announced he would be leaving the company.
Rather than replacing Mr. Leinwand, Mr. Lütke has taken over some of his duties and now oversees research and development. He had previously stepped in to take over the responsibilities of product manager Craig Miller, when the latter left the company in 2020. At the time, Mr Lütke said there were no plans to replace Mr .Miller.
The latest decision is not as significant as it might seem to the uninitiated, Finkelstein said.
“He’s been doing this for a long time and now we’re in the process of officially documenting it. »