Don’t like how your tech company is being run? Some executives seem to be okay with letting you hit the bricks.
What happened: The CEO of Automattic — parent company of WordPress and Tumblr — reportedly sent staff a message giving them four hours to accept a nine month severance package if they didn’t agree with the direction of the company.
- That came days after 159 employees took a six month severance offer. Others stayed in “an environment of paranoia and fear” due to financial strain and a crowded job market.
Catch-up: Automattic’s CEO Matt Mullenweg is in the midst of a bitter public feud with WP Engine, a third-party hosting service built on WordPress’ open-source infrastructure. Mullenweg called it a “cancer” that infringes on WordPress’ trademarks and cut off access to WordPress services, setting off duelling cease-and-desists and court filings.
Zoom out: Other tech companies are giving staff the chance to jump ship, albeit for different reasons. Matt Garman, CEO of Amazon Web Services, recently told employees that they should quit if they don’t agree with the company’s new five-day-per-week in-office policy.
Big picture: Of course, tech companies big and small haven’t had any problem letting people go this year. Depending on who is counting, there have been over 130,000 layoffs at more than 450 companies as of September.
- Some companies still talk about a talent shortage, but that is typically for specific skill sets (like AI and data science) or in certain sectors (like cybersecurity).
Why it matters: Tech companies giving staff a nudge towards the door probably isn’t a way to offload responsibility for more job cuts. But when employees are faced with choosing between corporate cultures they don’t do well in or trying their luck in a growing talent pool, they have fewer options to influence the direction or conditions of where they work.