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Automattic Announces Workforce Reduction Affecting 16% of Staff
San Francisco, CA – Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, Tumblr, and WooCommerce, has declared a reduction in its workforce, impacting 16% of its employees across all divisions. The announcement of these layoffs at Automattic was made public via a company blog post on Wednesday, signaling a significant restructuring for the tech firm.
Extensive Job Cuts at WordPress.com Parent Company
Prior to this announcement, Automattic’s website listed 1,744 team members. Calculations indicate that this workforce reduction could affect over 270 individuals. Requests for confirmation of this number from Automattic have not yet been addressed as of publication time.
Reasons for the Restructuring
The company’s blog post and internal Slack communication from Wednesday attributed the “restructuring” to the intensely competitive market environment and the rapid advancements in technology. This decision follows a period of turbulence for Automattic, marked by a public legal dispute with WP Engine, a web hosting provider. This disagreement, centered around WP Engine’s contributions to the open-source WordPress.org and brand usage, had previously led to employee departures in the preceding fall.
CEO Matt Mullenweg’s Perspective on Layoffs
In a statement released today, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg explained the company layoffs are intended to foster greater agility and responsiveness within Automattic. He further detailed the objectives of this organizational change:
- Enhancing agility and responsiveness
- Eliminating silos causing inefficiencies
- Prioritizing product quality enhancements
- Establishing a sustainable financial framework for long-term success
According to Mullenweg’s statement, these measures are crucial “to support our customers and products, we must improve our productivity, profitability, and capacity to invest.”
Global Impact and Severance Details
The Automattic layoffs will affect employees across 90 countries. Impacted staff will receive severance packages and job placement assistance as part of the company’s support measures during this transition.
Mullenweg’s Confidence in Future Outlook
“Automattic possesses numerous products with global impact potential within WordPress and beyond. I am confident that we will emerge from this situation stronger, ready to build a dynamic, profitable, and well-structured organization that will continue to advance our mission to democratize the internet,” stated Mullenweg.
Immediate Implementation and Employee Impact
Sources familiar with the matter have reported to TechCrunch that the Automattic layoffs were put into effect immediately. Employees were notified via email and subsequently lost access to company communication platforms like Slack. Notably, the job cuts include long-tenured employees, some with over a decade of service to the company.
Company Retreat Cancellation Precedes Layoffs
This news arrives shortly after Automattic announced the cancellation of its annual “Grand Meetup” company retreat planned for 2025.
Ongoing Developments
This is a developing story. Further updates will be provided as they become available.