Shopify to cut 10% of staff after making 'wrong' bet about pandemic online shopping boom

Shopify will lay off approximately 10% of its global staff after making the "wrong" bet on how long the pandemic-fueled surge in online shopping would continue, the CEO of the Canadian e-commerce company announced Tuesday.

The cuts span divisions including recruiting, support and sales, according to CEO Tobi Lutke in a memo to staff, and will take effect by end of day Tuesday. Shopify reported having about 10,000 employees as of the end of 2021.

Shopify, an e-commerce platform that helps businesses sell products online and in retail stores, saw demand for its services "skyrocket" in the early days of the pandemic as "almost all retail shifted online because of shelter-in-place orders," Lutke said in the memo.