WordPress.com owner Automattic is laying off 16 percent of workers

Automattic, the parent company of WordPress.com, is laying off about 16 percent of its workers. In a memo posted to the company’s website, CEO Matt Mullenweg says he’s making the change to “protect Automattic’s long-term future.”

Before the layoffs, Automattic’s website listed the company as having 1,777 employees. The company has since decreased its employee count to 1,495, meaning around 280 staff members were affected by the job cuts.

Last year, the third-party hosting company WP Engine filed a lawsuit against Automattic and Mullenweg after the company blocked WP Engine from WordPress.org’s server and took over its Advanced Custom Fields (ACF) plugin. Mullenweg has stated that the legal battle could go on for years and “could potentially bankrupt me or force the closure of WordPress.org.”

In October, Mullenweg offered his employees $30,000 or six months of salary to leave if they didn’t agree with his decision to ignite a public dispute with WP Engine. Automattic shed around 8.4 percent of its workforce after the first round of buyouts. 

“We have reached an important crossroads,” Mullenweg writes in his memo. “While our revenue continues to grow, Automattic 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 capacity to invest.”