Following Automattic CEO Matt Mullenweg’s initial offer of a six-month severance package for employees looking to leave, the company introduced a new deal on October 16: a nine-month severance package for those who chose to quit immediately. Employees had a mere four-hour window to make their decision.
In a Slack message shared with TechCrunch, Mullenweg specified that accepting the offer would result in losing access not only to Automattic but also to WordPress.org. This effectively meant departing employees would be unable to contribute to the open-source project as before and essentially be excluded from the WordPress community. The news of this revised offer was first reported by 404 Media.
Aside from his role as Automattic CEO, Mullenweg also owns and oversees the WordPress.org open-source platform.
Providing just four hours’ notice, Mullenweg instructed interested parties to send him a direct message stating, “I resign and would like to take the 9-month buy-out offer.” No further explanation was required, with Mullenweg responding with a simple “Thank you.” Notably, employees could retain their office belongings and work laptops, albeit losing access to Automattic and WordPress.org.
Mullenweg noted that some individuals missed out on the previous opportunity and introduced this new limited-time offer as a remedial measure.
As of publication, Automattic had not provided a comment on the situation or disclosed if any employees had accepted the new offer. The company’s headcount currently stands at 1,731, down from 1,732 a few hours earlier.
The first severance offer made by Mullenweg was targeted at employees who did not align with his stance in the dispute with WP Engine, a hosting provider. Notably, several key figures, including the head of WordPress.com, Daniel Bachhuber, and others, opted to leave Automattic.
The conflict between Automattic and WP Engine stemmed from Mullenweg’s criticism of the latter as being detrimental to WordPress, accusing WP Engine of insufficient contributions to the open-source project. The disagreement escalated over weeks, involving legal actions and public statements from both sides.
Recently, TechCrunch reported on Automattic’s efforts to defend its trademarks, detailing the company’s legal strategy and preparations.
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