Automattic begins layoffs following board upheaval and executive departures

Automattic, the parent company to WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Tumblr, and others, has begun layoffs, and insiders tell us they are bracing for more cuts to come. Over at least the past week, the cuts have impacted its communications team, social team, WordPress.com, and its VIP enterprise business.

WordPress.com、WooCommerce、Tumblr 等公司的母公司 Automattic 已经开始裁员，内部人士告诉我们，他们正准备迎接更多的裁员。在过去至少一周的时间里，裁员已经影响到了该公司的传播团队、社交团队、WordPress.com 以及其 VIP 企业业务部门。

The departures represent more turmoil at Automattic, whose team is still reeling from the board’s failed attempt to oust CEO Matt Mullenweg in September, resulting in a complete board turnover and other exec departures, including its CFO, interim CFO, and Chief Legal Officer. Automattic’s Director of Communications, Megan Fox, posted about her departure last week on LinkedIn, saying the move was an “unexpected end” and that her role had been “eliminated.”

这些离职事件反映了 Automattic 内部的进一步动荡。此前，该公司董事会在 9 月份试图罢免首席执行官 Matt Mullenweg 未果，导致董事会彻底改组，并引发了包括首席财务官、临时首席财务官和首席法务官在内的多名高管离职。Automattic 的传播总监 Megan Fox 上周在领英（LinkedIn）上发文称自己已离职，称这是一次“意想不到的结束”，她的职位已被“裁撤”。

Meanwhile, after TechCrunch reported that Automattic’s interim Chief Financial Officer Jeremy Klaperman left earlier this month, only weeks after the board shakeup, Mullenweg posted on X suggesting Klaperman may have been “offended” by the company’s decision to seek external candidates to fill the role. (Internally, however, Mullenweg had asked Klaperman to reconsider leaving, we had heard.)

与此同时，在 TechCrunch 报道 Automattic 临时首席财务官 Jeremy Klaperman 于本月初离职（距离董事会改组仅数周）后，Mullenweg 在 X 上发文暗示，Klaperman 可能是因为公司决定寻找外部候选人来填补该职位而感到“被冒犯”。（然而，据我们所知，Mullenweg 在内部曾要求 Klaperman 重新考虑离职一事。）

At one point, Mullenweg also shared personal information about one of the recently departed execs in the company’s internal Slack, according to screenshots viewed by TechCrunch. The post related to a health matter impacting the person’s spouse, and claimed that the company was not providing this person with much-needed COBRA insurance. Mullenweg said the exec was threatening to sue over this. Mullenweg also shared that his own fiancée had been impacted by the same health condition. Some employees told us they were shocked that the CEO would share something so private and personal in such a forum.

根据 TechCrunch 查看的截图，Mullenweg 还曾在公司内部的 Slack 频道中分享了近期离职的一位高管的个人信息。该帖子涉及影响该高管配偶的健康问题，并声称公司没有为该员工提供急需的 COBRA 保险。Mullenweg 表示，该高管曾因此威胁要起诉公司。Mullenweg 还透露，他自己的未婚妻也受到了同样健康状况的影响。一些员工告诉我们，他们对首席执行官在这样的公开场合分享如此私密和个人的信息感到震惊。

Throughout this month, TechCrunch has heard from different sources that members of Automattic’s team have also been let go, including those in marketing and product at WordPress.com. Reached for comment about the layoffs last week, Mullenweg said the terminations were not above its normal numbers. Asked on Wednesday about the growing total, Mullenweg said that today he was “mostly focused on PHP.” (He posted on X about the PHP security issue hitting the internet, which is taking priority.)

整个这个月，TechCrunch 从不同渠道获悉，Automattic 团队的成员也已被解雇，其中包括 WordPress.com 市场和产品部门的员工。上周在被问及裁员情况时，Mullenweg 表示裁员人数并未超过正常水平。周三当被问及不断增加的裁员总数时，Mullenweg 表示他今天“主要关注 PHP”。（他在 X 上发布了关于影响互联网的 PHP 安全问题的消息，称这才是当务之急。）

The company’s About page lists the total number of staff at 1,397, but insiders tell us that the plan is likely to spread out the layoffs over the months ahead, in the hopes of improving Automattic’s Q4 revenue figures ahead of a debt renegotiation that’s coming up in June. In a statement shared with TechCrunch, Automattic spokesperson Chenda Ngak said “We’re staggering our organizational changes to be more generous with severance and allow more time with each Automattician.”

该公司“关于我们”页面显示员工总数为 1,397 人，但内部人士告诉我们，公司计划在未来几个月内分批进行裁员，以期在 6 月份债务重组前改善 Automattic 的第四季度营收数据。Automattic 发言人 Chenda Ngak 在给 TechCrunch 的一份声明中表示：“我们正在错开组织架构调整的时间，以便提供更慷慨的遣散费，并为每位 Automattic 员工留出更多时间。”