Wordpress.org: Automattic lays off 16 percent of its employees
In order to secure the future of the company, Wordpress owner Automattic is laying off 16 percent of its workforce.
(Image: Primakov/Shutterstock.com)
According to its information, Automattic has just under 1800 employees. Of these, around 280 people are to leave. That is around 16 percent. The CEO of Automattic, Matt Mullenweg, announced a restructuring, which he initially shared with employees, but which has now also been published as a blog post. Automattic is the parent company behind Wordpress.com.
Mullenweg had developed the software for weblogs, WordPress itself is open source, so only Wordpress.com and org. are directly under Automattic's control. However, the Internet is largely made up of websites that rely on WordPress.
Now the Automattic boss says in the letter that difficult decisions have to be made to secure the future of the company. This also includes the dismissal of some employees. And this despite the fact that Mullenweg writes that revenues are growing. However, the company is in a highly competitive market and technology is developing rapidly. “To support our customers and products, we need to improve our productivity, profitability, and ability to invest.” The aim is therefore to be more agile and responsive, break down silos that have led to inefficiency, focus on fewer things but do them better and ensure the sustainability of the financial model.
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To achieve this, 16 percent of employees will be made redundant. They are to be informed by the HR department and are entitled to severance pay. It remains unclear what the restructuring will look like within the company. Mullenweg will be in touch later on.
Mullenweg has been in dispute with the hosting provider WP Engine for some time. He accuses WP Engine of pretending to be WordPress and not participating in the further development of the software. Automattic has sent warning letters to WP Engine. A legal dispute could be costly. Mullenweg himself has already said that it could lead to bankruptcy.
(emw)