Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, WooCommerce, and Tumblr, has started laying off staff across its communications, social, WordPress.com, and VIP enterprise teams. People familiar with the situation expect the cuts to continue.
The reductions are part of the fallout from a September board attempt to remove CEO Matt Mullenweg. The failed ouster led to a full board turnover and executive departures, including the CFO, interim CFO, and chief legal officer. Automattic's director of communications said her position was eliminated, and screenshots show Mullenweg shared a former executive's private health information in the company's Slack, which surprised some employees.
The company's website lists about 1,397 staff, but insiders believe the layoffs will be staggered over several months to strengthen Q4 revenue before a debt renegotiation in June. Automattic said the rolling changes are meant to improve severance terms and give employees more time. Mullenweg, when asked about the size of the cuts, said he was mostly focused on a PHP security issue.