Shopify Goes Digital by Default

As of today, Shopify is a digital by default company. We will keep our offices closed until 2021 so that we can rework them for this new reality. And after that, most will permanently work remotely. Office centricity is over.

— Tobi Lutke, Shopify CEO

Re: Shopify Goes Digital by Default

#5

Post by ideals » Thu, May 21, 2020, 3:39 PM UTC

> Office centricity is over.

I hope this mindset carries over to other companies who are committing to allow employees to stay home. There's more to remote working than staying at home. The whole culture of the company has to embrace it.

Re: Shopify Goes Digital by Default

#6

Post by robertoandred » Thu, May 21, 2020, 3:40 PM UTC

Will they be paying for their employees' home office setups?

Re: Shopify Goes Digital by Default

#7

Post by dpflan » Thu, May 21, 2020, 3:42 PM UTC

realbarack wrote: post #3

Another one. This is a big-and-getting-bigger deal. I'm keeping track of announcements here: https://airtable.com/shrC1mvKjwntaqocO/tbl73UY1jDmReLge7

Thanks for tracking. Maybe commercial real estate will have to become residential to survive the shift in demand? Economics of a skyscraper vs. residential are different, but the building still exists (I can see how not opening could be cheaper, but still, I'd like to ponder this situation.)

Re: Shopify Goes Digital by Default

#8

Post by hylaride » Thu, May 21, 2020, 3:42 PM UTC

They currently have a MASSIVE office lease for a building under construction in Toronto right now. This will be interesting...

Re: Shopify Goes Digital by Default

#9

Post by troydavis » Thu, May 21, 2020, 3:43 PM UTC

robertoandred wrote: post #6

Will they be paying for their employees' home office setups?

This has been a solved problem for many years. Many or most larger remote-first employers do. Here's an example from Automattic (https://automattic.com/work-with-us/):

> Home office setup and coworking allowances. Working from a coffee shop? You can use your coworking allowance for the requisite latte!

and from https://javi.blog/2016/01/10/automattic-perks/:

> If you don’t enjoy working from home 100% of the time, the company will give you up to $250 per month to rent a coworking space. Also, if you don’t want to have a permanent place to attend, you can use that $250 to pay for whatever you drink while you’re working from a coffee or similar places.

> You can get a completely equipped home office on the company. For example, I got an Aeron chair, an Ikea Bekant standing desk & a desktop lamp even before my first official day in the Automattic.

Re: Shopify Goes Digital by Default

#10

Post by xivzgrev » Thu, May 21, 2020, 3:52 PM UTC

dpflan wrote: post #7

realbarack wrote: post #3

Another one. This is a big-and-getting-bigger deal. I'm keeping track of announcements here: https://airtable.com/shrC1mvKjwntaqocO/tbl73UY1jDmReLge7

Thanks for tracking. Maybe commercial real estate will have to become residential to survive the shift in demand? Economics of a skyscraper vs. residential are different, but the building still exists (I can see how not opening could be cheaper, but still, I'd like to ponder this situation.)

Whoa there silver. Just because a few tech companies are giving up their space doesn’t mean commercial office space is doomed. There are still plenty of non-tech companies and local businesses (like law firms) that I doubt will be going away.

Tech companies have a huge incentive here - they can now start hiring engineers at non Bay Area prices. Which, if enough companies do it, means your salaries are at risk. Nobody cares that it’s expensive to live here, they only pay because they all insisted on in person offices. By going remote they can stop paying Bay Area rents and compensation levels.