The Globe and Mail reports in its Friday edition that Shopify is slashing nearly 20 per cent of its entire work force and selling off its delivery and warehousing operations, as the Ottawa-based company strives to recapture momentum in its core e-commerce business. The Globe's Temur Durrani writes that it is a sharp retreat on several levels for what was once Canada's most valuable company. Last year, it bought San Francisco start-up Deliverr Inc. for $2.1-billion (U.S.), among others. Those expansions, all of which are now being sold to Silicon Valley-based Flexport Inc. for an equity interest, were part of Shopify's broader push to compete against Amazon. Investors applauded Shopify's moves Thursday, sending the stock soaring. National Bank of Canada analyst Richard Tse said the changes will make the company "a lot more nimble once again." Shares of the company closed at $77.65, up by more than 23 per cent in Toronto. Shopify had emphasized earlier this year that it would not be making any cuts beyond its 10-per-cent layoffs in July, 2022. On Thursday, however, ahead of its first quarterly earnings report for 2023, Shopify told staffers about the new job cuts in a memo from chief executive officer Tobias Lutke.