Automattic Lays Off 281 People Across 90 Countries: The Web Reacts

On Tuesday, Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg despatched ripples all through the WordPress neighborhood with a weblog publish asserting the layoff of 281 staff – representing 16% of Automattic’s workforce. ¹

Staff have been first notified through inner message earlier than the information was made public later within the day on Automattic’s web site. Whereas acknowledging continued income progress, he cited aggressive pressures and speedy technological evolution as key components necessitating the restructuring.

Affected staff will obtain severance packages, retain their firm laptops, and have entry to job placement sources, in keeping with the announcement.

Layoffs aren’t usually celebrated, however quite a lot of the responses this announcement acquired gave the impression to be notably extra offended – stemming from the already built-up destructive angle in the direction of Matt on account of #wpdrama. On the flip facet, there was additionally an incredible outpouring of help for the Automattic staff being let go. Let’s take a more in-depth look.

How the online is responding

As I simply talked about, the announcement triggered various responses throughout social media platforms, with many present and former staff sharing their experiences and views.

Staff and associates supply their ideas

On LinkedIn, Oli Griffiths, Senior Principal PHP Engineer at Tumblr, expressed his disappointment:

Oli’s commentary that the severance packages he and others are receiving are nowhere close to as beneficiant as those that Matt supplied to those that selected go away final yr was shared by a number of different folks.

Amongst them was Kellie Peterson, who identifies as an admin for an Automattic Alumni Slack occasion. She supplied a very pointed critique that challenged Mullenweg’s management capabilities and inspired corporations to rent the now-available expertise:

Christopher S., a developer at Automattic, shared his shock at being included within the cuts:

As information of the layoffs unfold, some within the WordPress neighborhood rapidly started highlighting alternatives for these affected. Oliver Sild, CEO of Patchstack, posted a hiring announcement particularly concentrating on PHP and Laravel builders with WordPress expertise:

Worker’s weblog affords deeper context

Anne McCarthy, a long-time Automattic worker, printed a weblog publish titled “Find out about these impacted by Automattic’s Workforce Discount” that gives precious context in regards to the capabilities of these affected. ²

McCarthy notes that working at Automattic requires “steady studying, a robust capability to synthesize and share related info, a deep sense of shared possession, and the flexibility to collaborate overtly throughout cultures and groups.”

She describes former colleagues as “adaptable self-starters, lifelong learners, and wildly artistic downside solvers” who “take deep possession of their work and wish to assist these round them thrive too.”

McCarthy’s publish serves each as a tribute to her former colleagues and as a useful resource for employers searching for expertise, inviting hiring managers to touch upon her publish if they’ve related openings.

A difficult time to enter the job market

For U.S.-based Automattic staff, this transition comes throughout a very robust interval within the job market. The federal authorities has lately reduce tons of of 1000’s of positions throughout quite a few companies, flooding the applicant pool in lots of sectors.

Whereas federal jobs don’t completely overlap with the tech roles at Automattic, the general job market contraction provides one other layer of issue for these searching for new positions. Since January 2025, over 200,000 federal employees throughout greater than a dozen companies have been eradicated, with one other 75,000 accepting buyouts. ^{3 4}

Tech roles exist throughout all industries, together with authorities, that means that competitors for open positions could also be fiercer than ordinary even for specialised WordPress and net growth expertise.

What’s subsequent for these affected

The Automattic announcement talked about that affected staff would obtain “a complete package deal protecting severance pay and advantages” together with retention of firm laptops and entry to job placement sources.

McCarthy’s weblog publish additionally affords to assist with job connections, writing, “For any ex-automatticians, I’m right here to assist repost your open to work shares, make any intros I can, and cross on jobs I see.”

The tech neighborhood’s speedy response with job postings means that many corporations acknowledge the chance to carry on skilled expertise from an organization identified for its excessive requirements and revolutionary strategy to distant work.

Trying forward

Mullenweg expressed confidence that Automattic would “come out of this example in a greater place,” specializing in creating “a vibrant, worthwhile, well-designed firm” that continues its mission to democratize the web.

For the affected staff throughout 90 nations, the instant future entails navigating a serious skilled transition whereas the tech trade watches intently to see how Automattic’s restructuring impacts its merchandise and place out there.

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