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

news.shopify.com

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

#391

Post by umeshunni »

23B1 wrote: post #106
alanfranz wrote: post #25

What is an healthy manager-to-ic ratio?

The concept of "span of control," sometimes called the management ratio, is the number of direct reports controlled directly by a leader or a manager. The concept was developed in the UK by Sir Ian Hamilton in his book The Soul and Body of an Army, in the 1920s. It arose from the assumption that managers have finite amounts of time and energy to spend with their people and their jobs. Analyzing British military leade…

3-6 sounds like a good rule of thumb.

Research that I have seen hints that people who were in I shaped teams (i.e. single person reporting to a manager) and V shaped teams (2 people reporting to a manager) were much unhappier than larger teams.

Similarly, somewhere close to 10 is when the there is just not enough 'managing' or mentorship happening. I have seen that work only in cases where most of the ICs are senior/staff level and are effectively self-managing.

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

#393

Post by judge2020 »

bartread wrote: post #266

"We are changing the shape of Shopify significantly today to pay unshared attention to our mission." What a way to lead, and what an absolutely grotesque euphemism (not to mention a barbaricly tortuous use of English). Why do companies write like this? It's just awful. I'm only half-joking when I suggest that if they'd taken this text and asked GPT-4 to rewrite it in a compassionate tone they'd have got a better resu…

> they'd taken this text and asked GPT-4 to rewrite it in a compassionate tone they'd have got a better result

Today, we're making some substantial changes at Shopify, all with the aim of focusing more intently on our mission. We believe these adjustments will help us better serve our community and we're excited about the journey ahead.

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

#394

Post by Eumenes »

symlinkk wrote: post #352
organsnyder wrote: post #203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Shopify calls its first interview the "life story" interview, and (in my experience) it was a great place for me to talk about my career, reflect on past successes and mistakes, and demonstrate empathy and self-awareness.

So only people who have slick enough social skills to bullshit their way through that will get hired. The quiet unassuming engineer who spend their free time programming will get passed on and the extroverted engineer who spent their free time partying will get hired.

Yeah sounds like a BS "Values" interview ... hard pass

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

#396

Post by amrocha »

morkalork wrote: post #380
ryukafalz wrote: post #251

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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.

Shopify already had a reputation for over hiring and firing those that didn't perform exceptionally.

First time I hear that and I worked there

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

#397

Post by whateverman23 »

alexvoda wrote: post #214
qbasic_forever wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Separate your personal happiness from your job. Who knows what the future holds, maybe it won't be working in tech. Be ready for anything IMHO. It might get better, or it might not any time soon. But the sun will come up again tomorrow, and the day after and after etc.

I can understand trying to have a calming discourse whose message pretty much amounts to "c'est la vie". But even if that is not your intention, it can come out as dismissive. Many people do worry about the future for very good reasons.

I think many people, especially the privileged in tech, haven't had to worry about money before. The possibility of losing it all and ending up homeless doesn't even cross their mind, either from ignorance or from significant personal/family wealth that provides a safety net.

Easy not to worry when you can't fathom that it may happen to you or your peer.

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

#398

Post by SauciestGNU »

symlinkk wrote: post #356
qbasic_forever wrote: post #174

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Separate your personal happiness from your job. Who knows what the future holds, maybe it won't be working in tech. Be ready for anything IMHO. It might get better, or it might not any time soon. But the sun will come up again tomorrow, and the day after and after etc.

My job pays for the roof over my head and the food on my table. How am I supposed to be happy without that?

I also struggle to separate what I do from who I am. I've been trying to build a more purposeful sense of identity outside of work, because jobs will come and go. Plus I sound like a real tool if someone asks me what my deal is and all I can say is "software engineer".

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

#399

Post by ben1040 »

Arubis wrote: post #155

“We will also keep Slack and internal email open today for everyone so we can share farewells.” That’s drastically different. Most orgs that’ve run layoffs over the last few years have terminated access immediately, or even before informing those losing jobs. This feels more human, and I hope it goes well for them.

Dropbox did it this way last week as well. The employees who were laid off were removed from work-related Slack channels but they had access to social channels and DMs so they could say goodbye.

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

#400

Post by amrocha »

pastor_bob wrote: post #259
rcme wrote: 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.

They pay competitively now, but it took half the company quitting during covid covid for them to get to that point
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