Automattic Begins Layoffs Across Comms, Social, WordPress.com and VIP After Board Turnover
The Facts
- Automattic, parent company of WordPress.com, WooCommerce and Tumblr, has begun layoffs, and insiders told TechCrunch they expect more cuts. TechCrunch only
- Over at least the past week, cuts have affected the communications team, social team, WordPress.com and the VIP enterprise business; TechCrunch also heard of marketing and product staff at WordPress.com being let go this month. TechCrunch only
- Director of Communications Megan Fox posted on LinkedIn that her role had been 'eliminated', calling it an 'unexpected end'. TechCrunch only
- In September the board failed in an attempt to oust CEO Matt Mullenweg, resulting in a complete board turnover; the CFO, interim CFO Jeremy Klaperman and the Chief Legal Officer have since left. TechCrunch only
- Mullenweg said the terminations were not above normal numbers; asked about the growing total, he said he was 'mostly focused on PHP'. TechCrunch only
Dive deeper · 2 more factsShow less
- Automattic's About page lists 1,397 staff. Insiders told TechCrunch layoffs may be spread over coming months, aiming to improve Q4 revenue ahead of a debt renegotiation due in June. TechCrunch only
- Screenshots viewed by TechCrunch show Mullenweg shared in internal Slack personal health information about a departed executive's spouse, and said the executive was threatening to sue. TechCrunch only
Context
Automattic has begun a series of layoffs following turmoil that began with a failed board attempt in September to remove CEO Matt Mullenweg. TechCrunch, citing insiders, reports the cuts span several teams and may continue in stages.
Mullenweg told TechCrunch the terminations were within normal levels. The company has not published a total number of affected employees. All details come from TechCrunch's reporting and insider accounts.
How the Agent Panel Scored This
Independent AI personas each scored importance 1–10; the story's score is a trimmed mean (highest and lowest votes dropped). Vote spread: 1.
| 5 | Critical Reader | Layoffs at a well-known company affecting several teams are a concrete event, but the total count is unpublished, the cuts are described via insider accounts, and the scale is moderate relative to a 1,397-person workforce. |
| 5 | Policy Expert | Layoffs at a notable company affecting several teams (with more expected) are a concrete corporate action of moderate importance, though the impact is limited to one company's employees and the count is unpublished. |
| 5 | News Editor | Concrete layoffs affecting multiple teams at a well-known company with 1,397 staff and ongoing cuts are newsworthy and moderately important, though reported from a single source and limited in scale so far. |
| 4 | Informed Citizen | Layoffs at a mid-sized company with ongoing, unquantified cuts affecting several teams is a moderately notable corporate story with limited impact on ordinary people beyond Automattic's staff and WordPress users. |
| 4 | Science & Tech Analyst | Layoffs at a notable company (Automattic) with unspecified numbers, mostly insider-sourced and single-source, affecting a mid-sized staff of about 1,400, with a notable governance turmoil backdrop but limited broad impact. |
| 4 | Global Affairs Analyst | This reports a concrete corporate layoff event at a notable tech company with limited verified scale (total unpublished, cuts described as ongoing), affecting a moderate number of employees, with governance turmoil adding some interest but no broad societal impact. |
| 4 | Business Analyst | Ongoing layoffs at a mid-sized private company with unspecified total cuts and insider-sourced reporting, plus governance turmoil and a debt renegotiation, make this a moderately notable but limited-impact corporate story rather than market-moving news. |