AutomatonThe company behind WordPress.com, Tumblr, Woocommerce and a range of other online services, reduces its workforce. The layoffs will have an impact on 16% of the staff between the divisions, a The Automattic Blog post published on Wednesday reveals.
Before layoffs, the Automattic website has scored 1,744 employees, which means that the north of 270 people may have lost their jobs. (Automattic was invited to confirm this number but did not respond to the time of publication.)
The post, which was also shared with the employees of the company via Slack earlier Wednesday, explains that this “restructuring” was necessary due to the competitive nature of the market and the speed at which technology is evolving.
However, this decision also comes after a tumultuous year for Automattic, which has embarked on a controversial legal battle with the accommodation company WP Engine. The current drama Already led to the start of certain employees of the PLC last fall. In the opinion of the CEO of Automate Matt Mulenweg, the WP Engine accommodation provider has not contributed enough to the open source WordPress.org project, and its use of the “WP” brand confused consumers about its affiliation with WordPress itself.
In Wednesday’s announcement, Mullenweg explained that newly announced layoffs will allow Automattic to become “more agile and responsive”, “decompose the silos that have created ineffectures”, “Focus on product quality” and “ensure a viable financial model for long -term success”.
“To support our customers and products, we must improve our productivity, profitability and our ability to invest,” says the post, written by Mullenweg.
The layoffs will have an impact on employees in 90 countries, which will receive an unscathed package and placement assistance, among others.
“Automattic has several products with a global touch potential in WordPress and beyond. I am convinced that we were getting out of this situation in a better position, ready to create a dynamic, profitable and well-designed company that will continue our mission to democratize Internet,” wrote Mullenweg.
Techcrunch sources told us that the layoffs were in force immediately, which means that people received an email and then immediately lost access to Slack. Releases include long -standing employees who have been with the company north of a decade, we understand.
The news follows the cancellation by Automattic of its annual retirement from the “Grand Meetup” company for 2025, also told us a source.
Sarah Perez can be contacted at @ sarahperez.01 on signal and sarahp@techcrunch.com
