Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah’s email asking employees to ‘work longer’ sparked boycott calls

Wayfair CEO Niraj Shah

Wayfair on Friday announced layoffs that will affect 13% of its workforce or about 1,650 workers. The announcement comes just weeks after CEO Niraj Shah sent a company-wide email saying the online retailer is “profitable” once again, while also warning employees to work longer hours and be judicious with company resources.

The job cuts have once again brought Shah’s December memo on working longer into the limelight. The email had sparked calls for boycotting the home goods retailer, with many criticising its Indian-origin CEO for promoting a toxic work culture.

Read the full text of Shah’s email below, as reported by Business Insider:

Hi everyone,

I thought I would take a minute to share some thoughts that I have had recently.

As we work our way through the holiday season it is really encouraging to see that we are back to winning. Winning feels good - and is a great reward for all of our efforts. Our market share is growing nicely, our repeat is increasing, our suppliers are leaning in, and we are profitable. This is something to be very proud of.

That said, while we have worked hard to get back to the execution oriented, hard working, frugal, customer oriented culture that we had for most of our history we still have some work to do to make sure that we get fully back. And this is what I want us all to push on in the weeks and months to come.

One point I think is important to make is that winning requires hard work. I believe that most of us, being ambitious individuals, find fulfillment in the joy of seeing our efforts materialize into tangible results. Working long hours, being responsive, blending work and life, is not anything to shy away from. There is not a lot of history of laziness being rewarded with success. Hard work is an essential ingredient in any recipe for success. I embrace this, and the most successful people I know do as well.

You may know of Nirajisms, these are phrases that start with 'Niraj said'. What disappoints me is that the majority I hear are either not true, are old and no longer applicable, or are taken out of context. The one I would reference here that I heard was 'Niraj said that he does not think that we should work late'. I would suggest that this is laughably false. Hard work is essential for success, and a key part of getting things done. Everyone deserves to have a great personal life - everyone manages that in their own way - ambitious people find ways to blend and balance the two. I think that is what we all should do.

I heard another Nirajism yesterday which was 'Niraj said that we cannot recruit from Google Amazon or Walmart'. I am not even sure where that could come from since so many of our senior leaders are from these places. Again false.

I would encourage you to run any Nirajism that sounds odd by me. I am happy to clarify anything. And I am sure there are some that in fact I would support and say we should stick with. Ultimately I want us to be aggressive, pragmatic, frugal, agile, customer oriented, and smart. Use those as filters and I think things can become clearer.

I would also encourage you to think of any company money you spend as your own. Would you spend money on that, would you spend that much money for that thing, does that price seem reasonable, and lastly - have you negotiated the price? Everything is negotiable and so if you haven't then you should start there. One cost we were discussing yesterday was the cost to run ethernet wires. In this example it started at $1,600 a drop. At 12 drops that would be $19,200. To run them would take two people maybe 8 hours or so. I would be happy to spend a Saturday doing this with you and splitting $19,200. Basically that price is highway robbery. Why did we get robbed? Because no one worried about the cost. That $1,600 became $800 and then $300 as some questions were asked and negotiations ensued. We have this this type of problem in many places - we need to root them out. And we need everyone who is at Wayfair to care. If you see wasted spend that you do not know how to fix just let me know and I will help. This is a great way to strengthen the culture.

And lastly I want to encourage us all to be smart. You will encounter some things that do not make sense. Question them. And then escalate it if you encounter bureaucracy and believe that you are right. We have a lot of policies or practices that need to refreshed, leaned out, or eliminated. Less is more - lets find policies and procedures that do not add value and eliminate them. Lets find policies that do not make sense and adjust them. And just approach everything with first principles. You are smart - bet on that and use your judgment. And feel free to ask me or other leaders for advice when you have a question. This will help us all win.

Together we can win much faster than we are winning now if we all row in this direction together. Let's be aggressive, pragmatic, frugal, agile, customer oriented, and smart.

Thanks for being on the team!

Niraj

Calls for boycott

Niraj Shah is the Indian-origin co-founder and CEO of Wayfair. He is the son of Indian immigrants who was raised in Massachusetts, USA.

Shah started Wayfair in 2002 and has been its CEO ever since. However, his recent email to staff has raised concerns about his leadership style.

On social media, where work-life balance is a hot topic these days, the email sparked calls for boycotting Wayfair. A number of people took offense with Shah’s suggestion of ‘blending’ work with personal life.

“[Wayfair is] a company I've purchased from and been satisfied by. My mom too. And now, I won't be buying from anymore,” wrote one X user.

This is the CEO of @Wayfair. A company I've purchased from and been satisfied by. My mom too. And now, I won't be buying from anymore. 1/

Billionaire CEO pushes employees to work longer hours in year-end messagehttps://t.co/QykvGUMqxp

— Portia McGonagal Same On (@PortiaMcGonagal) December 22, 2023

Boycott wayfair pic.twitter.com/ZAmo5T555r

— Ford (@Ford1181155) December 26, 2023

“Hey @wayfair, I kinda liked you, but, alas, I will shop elsewhere now until such time as you change your (CEO's) draconian work ethic,” another person posted on X.