Shopify Employees Go Head to Head for Raises in New Ranking System

Some companies like to pit workers against each other to encourage them to pull out all the stops. At Shopify, a new employee ranking system rolled out in stages over the past year has, in the view of some employees, put that philosophy into action—by effectively making employees compete for pay rises.

In recent months, Shopify has been assigning employees a numerical score to represent their skill level, known as their mastery in Shopify lingo, according to a Shopify manager and a former employee who have been briefed on the new system. Only people whose scores increase in a given review period are eligible for raises, the people said. Workers can boost their mastery score by improving their expertise, according to one executive, although some Shopify employees have interpreted the new system to mean that their improvement is measured in comparison with colleagues at the same level, or scope, in Shopify lingo, according to the manager.