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Shopify makes cuts to its operations team in latest round of layoffs

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Shopify makes cuts to its operations team in latest round of layoffs

The e-commerce giant has laid off a number of people in revenue operations and customer support. One former staffer claims that “technological advancements” were partly to blame.

By Aleksandra Sagan
Tobias Lutke in a black shirt and grey jeans sitting on a couch, gesturing with both hands pinching the air as he speaks
Shopify co-founder and CEO Tobi Lütke. Recent layoffs at the firm have affected people working in revenue operations and customer support. Photo: AP Photo/Richard Drew
May 4, 2026
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Shopify has laid off at least 30 people as part of a significant reorganization of its operations team, The Logic has learned.

The layoffs, which took place in April, affected staff in Canada and the U.S. working in operations and customer support, among other areas of the business, according to multiple sources and social media posts.

Talking Points

  • Shopify laid off more than two dozen people last month in a reorganization of its operations department
  • The e-commerce firm has regularly laid off smaller numbers of people since two rounds of mass layoffs in 2022 and 2023. These consistent cuts have dented morale amongst some remaining staff, who have become accustomed to the ever-present threat of losing their jobs.  

The changes to the operations team will “sharpen focus on our highest priorities,” Ben McConaghy, Shopify’s director of communications, told The Logic. “These changes give the team clearer ownership, more consistency, and set a higher bar as we build for what’s ahead,” he added. 

McConaghy declined to confirm the number of staff laid off as part of the reorganization and to answer follow-up questions. Instead, he pointed to recent social media posts from the firm’s chief operating officer Jess Hertz and president Harley Finkelstein, explaining changes the company had made to its revenue and support operations, which have been in flux since the sudden departure of chief revenue officer Bobby Morrison and two other executives last October. 

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In a LinkedIn post, Hertz explained that the revenue and support teams would now fall under the purview of one leader, with Joe Strolz promoted from vice-president of global support to vice president of global revenue and support. Lauren Nemeth, previously chief revenue officer at New Relic, would join Shopify as vice-president of global enterprise, reporting directly to Hertz. Hertz said both appointments would help the company focus more on growing its business with big clients.

In a separate LinkedIn post, Finkelstein claimed the changes would improve Shopify’s customer service. “Single-threaded ownership from first conversation to merchant success. Cleaner handoffs,” he said, calling the new team “one of the strongest revenue leadership benches I’ve seen.”

Are you a current or former employee of Shopify? We’d like to hear from you. Using a non-work phone or computer, contact Aleksandra Sagan securely via Signal at aleksagan.12.

The new structure seemingly resulted in cutting a number of staff who had worked at Shopify for a decade or more, as well as some top performers. One person who had been laid off wrote in a social media post that they had recently attended a company event to reward top-achievers on the revenue team.

A number of senior staffers have also left Shopify last week. Carl Rivera, the firm’s chief design officer since April 2025, who worked on the launch of the Shop app, wrote on LinkedIn that it was hard to leave after nearly eight years. Andrius Baranauskas, director of product for Shop wallet, and Cauê Guerra, director of engineering for growth platforms and revenue, also announced they were leaving Shopify.

The cuts to the operations team follow a smaller batch of layoffs in early April and another big batch in late January when Shopify trimmed its partnerships division by roughly one third—with at least 53 people cut.

Shopify has been steadily reducing its headcount since two mass layoffs in 2022 and 2023. The regular drum beat of smaller cuts has had a damaging impact on morale with staff becoming accustomed to the ever-present threat of losing their jobs, sources previously told The Logic.

As of Dec. 31, 2025, Shopify had about 7,600 employees—down by roughly 500 over the course of a year, according to its annual reports. 

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It’s a strategy executives have been public about. “Shopify has not been growing headcount,” Finkelstein said at a Morgan Stanley conference in March, adding that its employee count has gone down consistently for each of the last eight to 10 quarters.

A little over a year ago, Shopify CEO Tobi Lütke told staff that “reflexive AI usage is now a baseline expectation” at the firm and that teams would have to prove work can’t be accomplished with AI before being given more resources or staff. Shopify has since cut staff in areas like customer support as its AI capabilities grew—though not always successfully. 

Correction: An earlier version of this story referred to an ex-employee whom Shopify laid off in a different round of cuts. The story has been updated.

#e-commerce #Shopify #Tech

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Tobias Lutke in a black shirt and grey jeans sitting on a couch, gesturing with both hands pinching the air as he speaks

Photo: AP Photo/Richard Drew

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