You're halfway through the week, readers. Reporting to you from Montana, I'm your host, Jordan Parker Erb.
When corporate America was forced to shift to remote work during the pandemic, we all had a lot to learn. For me, it was learning how not to WFB (work from bed).
For Shopify, however, the challenge has been building a transparent and genial culture while making sure employees are staying productive and focused online. So far, employees say, it hasn't gone well — and stories of the company surveilling workers on Slack are starting to emerge.
Let's dive in.
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1. Shopify employees say it's increasingly moderating Slack conversations. As the company has embraced remote work over the past two years, employees said Shopify has implemented measures to discourage negative and off-topic discussions of the company and its plans.
- Before the company transitioned to remote work, Shopify's culture was supported by typical tech-company perks, like free lunches, as well as some unique ones, like a yoga studio and a massage room.
- But now, as the company grapples with building a genial culture while keeping employees productive and focused online, some employees say its open communications have become restrained.
- Shopify even appointed "channel champions" — or volunteer employees — to keep channels focused on their stated purpose, with the intent to shut down conversations and even whole channels that became contentious.
Inside Shopify's Slack monitoring.
In other news:
2. Snap is planning layoffs. As first reported by the Verge, Snap plans to lay off 20% to 25% of its workforce, meaning roughly 1,200 to 1,500 people will lose their jobs. Workers have not been officially informed about the layoffs, but will find out more today, according to a person familiar with the situation. Get the full rundown here.
3. Hundreds of Facebook contractors in the US are set to lose work. About 400 contractors doing content moderation for Facebook through Accenture are expected to lose their jobs as the company shifts to sourcing more out of Singapore. Inside the upcoming layoffs.
4. The latest Twitter news: Elon Musk's legal team subpoenaed Twitter's ex-head of cybersecurity, Peiter Zatko, who filed an explosive whistleblower complaint against the company last week. Plus, Musk's lawyers told the company he now has fresh reasons to walk away from the $44 billion deal.
5. VCs share the most promising climate-tech startups of 2022. We asked investors which startups are doing well this year, and they named 37 companies working on everything from improved toilets to gene-edited crops. Check out the 37 startups poised to take off this year.
6. A Google worker accused the company of "creating an environment of fear" for employees who support Palestine. In a letter announcing her departure, the employee, who is Jewish, said Google retaliated against her and other workers who spoke out in support of Palestine. Here's what else the employee said.
7. A woman shares how she landed job offers at EY and Google right out of college. After earning a degree at UNC Chapel Hill, Caitlyn Kumi started at EY, and is now an associate product-marketing manager at Google. From utilizing social media to earning certifications, here are four steps she took to boost her résumé and confidence.
8. Twitter considered a plan to compete with OnlyFans. The company reportedly shuttered the plan for an OnlyFans copy, citing the platform's growing problem with harmful sexual content. What we know about the axed plans.
Odds and ends:
9. Get ready: Netflix is releasing 43 original movies before the end of the year. The streamer just laid out its film slate for the rest of the year — and it's more than the number of films Hollywood studios are sending to theaters, combined. See which films are coming out soon.
10. We explain how to track your music listening stats on Spotify. By connecting Last.fm to your Spotify account, you can analyze your listening history and see your top artists, albums, and more. How to connect Last.fm to your Spotify.
What we're watching today:
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Curated by Jordan Parker Erb in New York. (Feedback or tips? Email jerb@insider.com or tweet @jordanparkererb.) Edited by Hallam Bullock (tweet @hallam_bullock) in London.
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