Business
Published December 22, 2023, 8:51 p.m. ET
While many leaders use this time of year to thank their employees for their hard work and dedication, one told him they shouldn't shy away from working longer hours – and “balancing work and home life” now that the company is profitable again.
“Profit requires hard work,” Wayfair founder Niraj Shah wrote in a note to his employees celebrating the e-commerce company's recent success, first reported by Business Insider. “I believe that as ambitious people, most of us find fulfillment in the joy when our efforts result in tangible results.
“Long working hours, responsiveness and work-life balance are nothing to shy away from,” he continued. “There aren’t many stories where laziness was rewarded with success.”
Shah encouraged workers to be mindful of how they spend the company's money and negotiate deals to cut costs.
“Would you spend money on this, would you spend that much money on the thing, does the price seem reasonable to you and finally – have you negotiated the price?,” he said in an email to Wayfair employees earlier this month.
Wayfair founder Niraj Shah urged his employees to work longer hours in a company-wide email. Getty Images
According to the latest report cited by CNN, Wayfair employed around 15,000 people as of December 2022.
Shah's letter drew backlash from economics professor Nicolas Bloom.
“If Wayfair wants to run a company where people work 80 hours a week, he has to increase their salaries by 50% to pay them,” he told CNN on Thursday.
Shah co-founded Wayfair in 2002. Getty Images
According to Forbes, Shah's net worth is $1 billion in 2022.
The online company, which sells furniture and other home goods, enjoyed a boost during the pandemic as thousands of closeted shoppers turned to online retailers.
However, profits fell in 2022 as stores reopened nationwide, according to CNN. This year, Wayfair laid off 5% of its employees.
However, Shah's email this month said the company was back in the green.
“Together we can win much faster than we can now if we all row together in this direction,” he wrote. “Let us be aggressive, pragmatic, frugal, agile, customer-focused and smart.”
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