Shopify CEO’s U-turn on work-life steadiness: From 40-hour weeks to working even on weekends

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Mar 26, 2025 08:02 AM IST

Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke has shifted his perspective on work-life steadiness, now claiming he works over 10 hours a day and on weekends.

Shopify CEO Tobi Lutke appears to have modified his tune on work-life steadiness. Lutke was as soon as seen as a shining instance of contemporary man’s quest for fulfillment with out burning the midnight oil. In any case, in 2019, the founding father of Canadian e-commerce firm Shopify declared that working 80 hours per week isn’t obligatory for fulfillment, and that he himself labored solely 40 hours per week. In what could possibly be seen as an indication of the instances, the tweet has now been deleted.

Tobi Lutke, CEO of Shopify, as soon as championed 40 hour weeks.(Instagram/@tobi) Lutke’s U-turn

At a time when Silicon Valley is prioritising effectivity over work-life steadiness, Lutke appears to have modified his tune too.

His 2019 tweet – the place he declared that he hardly labored greater than 40 hours per week whereas rising his $125 billion e-commerce firm – has been deleted. As an alternative, the Shopify CEO now insists that he works over 10 hours a day and on weekends too.

“I’ve never worked through a night,” Lutke stated in a tweet round half a decade in the past. “The only times I worked more than 40 hours in a week was when I had the burning desire to do so. I need 8ish hours of sleep a night. Same with everybody else, whether we admit it or not.”

The submit was coated on the time by CNBC and Enterprise Insider, amongst different media shops.

Then vs now

Now, the CEO of Shopify begs to vary.

“Yea but this is commonly misunderstood. I’m at home for dinner but I work at least 10 or so hours a day and a lot of the weekend. I don’t want people to get misguided by this meme,” he stated earlier this month on X.

Lutke’s stance appears to have modified at a time when Silicon Valley staff are more and more being pushed to carry out higher. Meta, for instance, stated it will scale back its workforce by 4,000, focusing on staff deemed to be ‘underperformers.’

Microsoft, as soon as envied for its comparatively lax company tradition, appears to be present process an overhaul too. The tech big has changed its longtime HR chief and has laid off 2,000 staff this yr already, based mostly on efficiency.

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