While the controversy between Automattic and WP Engine was unfolding, social media discussions surged about whether Automattic employees not agreeing with Matt were offered an ultimatum to quit and exit with a generous payout.
https://twitter.com/kellie/status/1841210258422972536 https://twitter.com/jeffr0/status/1841585100665872569
In response, Matt Mullenweg addressed the situation in a blog post titled Automattic Alignment. He has clarified that: “It became clear a good chunk of my Automattic colleagues disagreed with me and our actions. So we decided to design the most generous buy-out package possible, we called it an Alignment Offer: if you resigned before 20:00 UTC on Thursday, October 3, 2024, you would receive $30,000 or six months of salary, whichever is higher. But you’d lose access to Automattic that evening, and you wouldn’t be eligible to boomerang (what we call re-hires). HR added some extra details to sweeten the deal; we wanted to make it as enticing as possible.”
Matt revealed that 159 employees, representing 8.4% of the workforce, accepted the offer. Of these, 79.2% were part of Automattic’s Ecosystem businesses, while 18.2% came from Cosmos, working on apps like Pocket Casts, Day One, Tumblr, and Cloudup.
“It was an emotional roller coaster of a week. The day you hire someone you aren’t expecting them to resign or be fired, you’re hoping for a long and mutually beneficial relationship. Every resignation stings a bit.”, Matt added.
Automattic referred to this move as “a strategic realignment to better pursue our core values and operational goals.”
We remain deeply grateful to all our employees, past and present. For those who have chosen new paths, we sincerely wish them the best, and thank them for helping make Automattic what it is today. We emerge from this chapter with a renewed vigor and clarity in our mission.
– Automattic
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