Live data from Hacker News

Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

news.shopify.com

281–290 of 531 posts

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#281

I'll tell you a personal anecdote about Shopify and why I dislike the company. Back in 2019, I was contacted by Shopify for a job opportunity. After acing multiple remote interviews, their recruiter couldn't contain their excitement. They promised me an onsite interview to simply meet the team and potentially secure an offer. Imagine my surprise when, after enduring a 15-hour economy class flight with barely any time…

Shopify is notorious in wasting your time. They have a “life journey” interview where you talk about your life’s journey and experiences. A few months ago I spent hours of my time on interviews that I performed well in, only to be told the team is “moving in a different direction”. Looks like I dodged a bullet there.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#282

This is not surprising Shopify has had an identity crisis and lack of focus for years now. To name a few: - Alienating marketplace partners by trying to absorb their functionality - Trying to break into the logistics space - Failing to develop and make headway into the Enterprise space. Shopify needs a reality check and new leadership if they want to continue being relevant

$70B company still

plenty relevant. more surprised when i don’t see a store use shopify at this point

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#283
post #22

Things changed quite a bit since this quote from February 17: > “There’s no cuts coming for us,” Harley Finkelstein told The Canadian Press. “We’re in a really good place.” https://globalnews.ca/news/9494197/shopify-outlook-no-layoff...

In my observation absolute statements about no layoffs are a strong indication of future layoffs in this economy. It's impossible to be certain in this economy so giving an absolute statement is basically a lie. Someone who is so brazen about lying to/deceiving their employees will have no qualms with doing layoffs. On the other hand someone who uses more careful language even if it costs them in the short term is so…

"Read my lips. No new taxes". New taxes pass 2 years later.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#284

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over hiring in the face of uncertain macro conditions and consumption changes is probably the right choice. If your market expands as you believe it might you're ready to step in and grow. If it doesn't grow you can just lay people off and you're back where you started. The important thing here though is that it's hard to catch up to competitors that have lapped you but it's easy to slow down when you're ahead. If yo…

> If it doesn't grow you can just lay people off and you're back where you started. "Back where you started" with a now highly demotivated team isn't quite back where you started.

Severance costs money as well

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#285

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is not how recessions work.

Emotional investors moving hundreds of billions of dollars create self-fulfilling prophecies. It absolutely is how recessions work. "I'm so pissy because the US Fed isn't giving away free money anymore. I'm moving to cash and will shower money on any company that does layoffs." Yeah, it works.

US recessions and bear markets happen most of the time because of mass psychosis, not because of some underlying cause. There can be a trigger, yes, but it's generally not that big of a deal. The government also plays a role in triggering these recessions, so that they can pop the bubbles before it's too late.

Yes, there can be recessions causes by world wars, worldwide droughts, pandemics and other cataclysmic events, but usually it's not the case for US.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#286
post #278

I'll tell you a personal anecdote about Shopify and why I dislike the company. Back in 2019, I was contacted by Shopify for a job opportunity. After acing multiple remote interviews, their recruiter couldn't contain their excitement. They promised me an onsite interview to simply meet the team and potentially secure an offer. Imagine my surprise when, after enduring a 15-hour economy class flight with barely any time…

I'm sorry to tell you this, but either your perception was wrong or your recruiter made a mistake. Remote interviews are generally phone screens. Aka just weeding out candidates. On site interviews are the real killer.

Well then Shopify should have better communicated and be better prepared, plus give the candidate enough time to recover from the flight. Bad form from Shopify if true...

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#287
post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a business perspective, this is great for Shopify. The labor market for software engineers has seriously softened as a result of all the layoffs. Go look at job openings and their posted salaries. When Shopify beings hiring again, they are going to be able to hire talent at a fraction of the price. Also, this is largely a coordinated effort from activist investors specifically targeting large tech salaries. E.g.…

Can anything be done?

Yes. Unionize.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#288
post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

From a business perspective, this is great for Shopify. The labor market for software engineers has seriously softened as a result of all the layoffs. Go look at job openings and their posted salaries. When Shopify beings hiring again, they are going to be able to hire talent at a fraction of the price. Also, this is largely a coordinated effort from activist investors specifically targeting large tech salaries. E.g.…

Shopify already pays at the low end. I mean, not even relative to FAANG; you can make a similar salary at a government job as an engineer.

This hasn't been true for the last couple of years.

source: I was a Shopify employee until today and can confirm my salary was closer to FAANG than not.

Re: Shopify will be smaller by about 20% and Flexport will buy Shopify Logistics

#289
post #278

I'll tell you a personal anecdote about Shopify and why I dislike the company. Back in 2019, I was contacted by Shopify for a job opportunity. After acing multiple remote interviews, their recruiter couldn't contain their excitement. They promised me an onsite interview to simply meet the team and potentially secure an offer. Imagine my surprise when, after enduring a 15-hour economy class flight with barely any time…

I'm sorry to tell you this, but either your perception was wrong or your recruiter made a mistake. Remote interviews are generally phone screens. Aka just weeding out candidates. On site interviews are the real killer.

In hindsight it’s easy to blame that person for not automatically expecting a grueling day of interviews or at least asking for details about what to expect.

But it’s easy for me to believe that the recruiter deliberately mislead the candidate about the on-site. I have experienced on-sites that were indeed more about meeting the team, having more casual technical discussions and being judged for “culture fit” (which has its own problems, but that’s another discussion).

It’s not unreasonable to take the recruiter at their word and be upset about the unexpected challenge, especially after a rough travel itinerary.

Post reply on HN