Shopify rescinded a number of job offers this week for interns who were set to start with the company in September. The company is also pausing recruiting for other fall internship roles.
Alex Lyons, a Shopify spokesperson, told Insider that the fall internship program would continue but with "a reduced number of roles, which we have completed hiring for."
"We continue to evaluate and hire for mission-critical roles, teams, and skills to ensure we are best structured to support our millions of merchants," Lyons said.
For Anthony Zhao, a third-year university student in a co-op program, the rescinded offer is a frustrating end to an interview process that took more than two months to complete. These internships are often career launching pads, but as tech companies face slowdowns, many students and new grads are seeing their job offers rescinded from companies like Coinbase, Twitter, and Redfin.
Zhao accepted a verbal offer in June before receiving an automated email from Shopify this week saying the company had "shifted priorities to focus on more immediate initiatives at Shopify" and was no longer hiring for the backend-developer internship he interviewed for.
"I wanted to work for a company that was doing something that would actually impact everyday people," Zhao said. "And also since it's a big company, I thought the work would be challenging."
He said he is now scrambling to find a new internship before the semester begins in September. While he's optimistic he'll find another job, he's running out of time.
"It's cutting it a bit close," he said. "I don't think it'll have as much clout as Shopify, but I think it'll be fine."
Shopify denies having given Zhao a verbal offer.
But the reports of rescinded offers come after Shopify quietly laid off about 50 workers and delayed a planned compensation overhaul to the fall.
Shopify announced the compensation overhaul in April following employee backlash about the company's compensation structure, which relied heavily on granting employees restricted stock units, or RSUs. As Shopify's stock fell dramatically in the first half of this year, some employees expressed concern about the total value of their compensation packages. Others worried there could be a talent exodus if the company didn't adjust its pay practices.
"This is a massive undertaking that needs to be designed with consideration and rigor" to meet various legal and regulatory requirements, a Shopify spokesperson told Insider of the compensation-overhaul delay earlier this month. "We remain excited to roll out this new program as planned when it's fully ready in the fall."
Shopify also instituted a 10-for-1 stock split at the end of June in an attempt to boost investor interest in the hard-hit stock.
Shopify is far from the only tech company to conduct layoffs as the global economy has faltered in recent months. According to Crunchbase News, which has been tracking layoffs in tech, more than 28,000 tech workers in the US have been laid off in 2022.
Canada's tech scene is being affected as well — the Canadian fintech darling Wealthsimple recently laid off 159 people, or about 13% of its workforce.
Got a tip? Contact this reporter at mstone@insider.com or on the secure messaging app Signal at (646) 889-2143 using a non-work phone.
