The WordPress.com matrix company, Automatic, has fired approximately 16% of its employees. In a statement sent to the workers confirmed by the measure, the CEO of the company, Matt Mullenweghe points out that they have made this decision to «protect the long -term future of the company«.
According to the company on its website, before making this ad the company had 1,777 workers, and then this number was reduced to 1,495, so the layoffs have finally affected 280 of its employees.
The company has been involved in a controversy with WP Engine. Specifically, his CEO, Matt Mullenweg, which last year blocked access to WP Engine to the WordPress.org server and took possession of his plugin Advanced Custom Fields (ACF). After this, those responsible for WP Engine decided to take measures against Automatic and went to court to put a lawsuit against the company.
As for Automatic, he decided that he was going to reduce the hours dedicated to WordPress.org and blamed WP Engine. It is a legal battle that, according to Mullenweg, could take years to solve, and in his particular case, take “to bankruptcy or have to close WordPress.org.”
This situation generated a great internal discontent among Automattic employees, which led to last October Mullenweg offered workers who did not agree with their decisions about 30,000 dollars or six months of salary to leave the company. After a first round of departures, in which 8.4% of Automattic employees decided to leave their position, Mullenweg offered them a second, in exchange for the nine -month salary. The exact number of workers who decided to leave then are unknown.
But it seems, they have not been enough for Mullenweg, who has chosen to further lose weight the automattic squad at a time when he stood out, they have «reached an important crossroads. Although income continues to grow, Automatic operates in a highly competitive market, and technology is evolving at unprecedented levels. To support our customers and products, we must improve our productivity, profitability and investment capacity«.
