Category: Announcements

The coronavirus impact on business the world over has already been monumental. As it has for almost everyone else across the country, the ongoing pandemic has had a huge impact on Shift, our employees, and our customers. The entire auto industry — indeed many industries — is facing lower demand across the board right now.

The Shelter-In-Place orders as well as the economic crisis that has developed as a result of the outbreak has forced us to take extremely difficult steps to ensure our company’s long-term durability.

We have had no choice but to furlough or reduce hours of close to 50% of our operations teams across the business. We have been able to ensure that furloughed employees will receive Shift’s excellent health benefits, and no employee has been furloughed because of sickness.

Additionally, we’ve had furloughs on the corporate level, while all of our salaried employees will be taking a 25% reduction in salary for at least eight weeks, though the timeline of this will be assessed as this crisis continues.

Taking these measures breaks our hearts. However, we are decisively taking these serious actions now to position Shift to weather this storm and come through it stronger. We extend our deepest sympathies and gratitude to the furloughed employees, some of whom volunteered, and we hope that all will return to Shift once we’re through these difficult times. As this crisis environment continues and we assess demand, it is possible we have to go further than this, but we hope to see higher demand than we had anticipated. If this happens, we would be able to bring our team members back to work. We are hopeful Congress passes the Keep Workers Paid Act quickly, and that measures in this legislation would allow us to reassess some of the steps we have been forced to take.

The Steps Shift is taking on COVID-19

Six years ago, Shift invented the concept of allowing a customer to shop for a car online, have a test drive delivered to them at their house, and complete the purchase fully digitally. We also offer the functionality to sell their car fully online. We are confident in Shift’s resilience and fortitude to continue serving customers over the long term because of these unique features. In the current environment, we believe that the need for privately-owned transportation options will increase dramatically, while demand for used cars will jump substantially (coupled with fall in demand for new cars). As a company, we will do everything we can to service customer needs through our test drive and purchase delivery capabilities.

We are currently living through a situation that is totally unprecedented. These times have also brought out the best of who we are as a team. We are encouraged by the stories of Shift employees looking out for each other, be it through covering shifts for a coworker who has to stay home to take care of their children, or the innovative practices we are adopting to ensure the health and safety of our colleagues and customers.

We want to thank our customers for bearing with us during uncertain times. We will do whatever we can to continue giving everyone safe access to reliable transportation throughout this period.

And we want to thank our employees for their continued hard work, adaptability, and dedication to their teammates, to our customers, and to the business.

Together, we’ll get through this.

Toby Russell & George Arison

Co-CEOs, Shift

Like many of you, we’ve been closely monitoring the developing situation around the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak and have been impacted by it. We recognize that transportation needs will continue as this crisis unfolds and are as committed as ever to helping you get where you need to go. 

The health and safety of our employees and customers is a top priority, and we want to take a moment to let you know what we’re doing to help.

For the time being, we’ve made the difficult decision to close some of our physical hubs to any customer visits. However, you can still buy a car with us without leaving your driveway.

Here’s what you can do:  

• Shop online: We’ll bring the car to your home to test drive (virtual test drives are also available). *UPDATE: In support of social distancing, we are now offering No-Contact Test Drives. Your Shift Concierge will bring the car to you, wipe down the car and keys, and then hand it off to you to take it for a spin. 
• Purchase online: We’ll drop the car off and waive shipping fees during this time.
• Sell us your car: We’ll come to you to evaluate it.

In addition, we’ve implemented the following procedures for the safety of our customers and staff:

• Monitoring ongoing updates on COVID-19 from public health officials.
• Following recommendations for reducing the spread of germs, including frequent, sustained hand-washing and using hand sanitizers. Our Car Concierge team will refrain from shaking hands or other close-proximity interactions. 
• Disinfecting all vehicles before and after each test drive and frequently touched surfaces at our gated storage facilities multiple times per day — that includes things like common use areas; all car keys and iPads; and car door handles and steering wheels. 

Finally, we want to give a special thanks to our Car Concierge team who are going above and beyond in continuing to serve those customers in need of transportation options. 

We hope these measures and services can help alleviate some of the stress and burden during this time and encourage you to reach out if there’s anything further we can do.

Thanks as always for working with us. 

Toby Russell & George Arison

Co-CEOs