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Shopify layoff comes as some say it’s taking longer for people to find jobs

Shopify Inc.’s layoff this week will add a slew of new workers to the job-hunting pool at a time when experts say candidates are taking longer to find their next gig.

April Hicke says she’s seeing tech workers in Toronto spend six months between jobs, while those in Calgary are waiting nine months.

Whereas workers were jumping to roles that would pay them $60,000 to $100,000 more at the height of the pandemic, the co-founder of women’s tech and hiring collective Toast now sees some taking pay cuts of 10 to 20 per cent.

However, Hicke and Future Skills Centre director of research Tricia Williams agree that tech workers are still in high demand in Canada.

Williams believes the addition of newly-laid off Shopify employees won’t change the labour landscape that much, though she says many of these workers will find tech-related jobs at other industries.

Shopify’s layoff announced Thursday ensnared 20 per cent of the e-commerce software company’s workers and comes almost a year after the business reduced its head count by 10 per cent.