Automattic Layoffs Hit WordPress.com and Enterprise Teams After Board Shakeup
TL;DR
- Automattic has begun layoffs affecting WordPress.com and its Enterprise / VIP division, following a board shakeup and a string of executive departures in October 2026.
- CEO Matt Mullenweg told staff the cuts are needed to stabilize finances and refocus spending, after years of heavy investment and slowing commercial growth.
- More restructuring is expected, raising fresh concerns about support, product development, and the long-term governance of the open-source WordPress ecosystem.
A Tumultuous Month For The Company Behind WordPress.com
Automattic, the company behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Tumblr, and Jetpack, has started a new round of layoffs impacting staff across WordPress.com and its enterprise business.
The cuts mark the latest escalation in a turbulent few weeks for the $7-billion-valued company. Employees were informed this week that roles were being eliminated as part of a broader effort to cut costs and stabilize the business financially. While the company has not publicly confirmed a total number, internal messages and posts from affected staff point to meaningful reductions in customer support, product, marketing, and enterprise services teams.
It is the second major contraction in as many years, following buyout offers and layoffs in 2024 and 2025 that already thinned Automattic's ranks from over 2,000 to well under 1,700 employees.
What Teams Are Affected
According to current and former employees sharing updates online, two areas have been hit hardest so far:
WordPress.com: The flagship hosted platform has seen cuts to Happiness Engineers (support), product managers, and growth and marketing staff. Long-tenured employees, including some with more than a decade at the company, said they were laid off with little warning.
Enterprise and VIP: Automattic's enterprise division, which provides hosting, support, and services to large publishers, corporations, and government sites under the WordPress VIP brand, has also lost staff. That includes client success managers, solutions engineers, and sales support roles — positions critical to retaining high-value contracts.
Additional impacts have been reported in Tumblr-adjacent teams, Beeper, and shared operations, though WordPress.com and Enterprise appear to be the center of this round.
A Board Shakeup And Executive Exits Set The Stage
The layoffs follow dramatic governance changes at the top. Earlier this month, Automattic confirmed a board shakeup that reduced founder and CEO Matt Mullenweg's direct control and brought in new independent oversight amid investor pressure over profitability.
That was quickly followed by a wave of executive exits. Several longtime C-suite leaders and VPs, including figures in finance, legal, and product, have departed in recent weeks. The turnover fueled speculation internally that new board members were pushing for stricter financial discipline and a shift away from Mullenweg's historically growth-at-all-costs and open-source advocacy spending.
In a memo to staff, Mullenweg acknowledged the leadership churn and said the company needed to reset to ensure it can sustain itself for decades without relying on outside capital.
Why Automattic Is Cutting Costs Now
The core reason, leadership says, is financial stabilization. Despite powering over 40% of the web through WordPress software, Automattic itself has struggled to turn that dominance into consistent profit.
Key pressures include:
- Slowing revenue growth from WordPress.com and VIP as competition intensifies from Shopify, Wix, Squarespace, and headless CMS platforms like Contentful and Sanity.
- Heavy legal and operational costs stemming from its ongoing public battle with hosting rival WP Engine, which has drained executive attention and millions in legal fees over trademark and ecosystem governance disputes.
- Over-expansion during the pandemic-era funding boom, when Automattic acquired companies like Tumblr, Day One, Pocket Casts, Texts, and Beeper, many of which have yet to reach profitability.
- Costly contributions to the open-source WordPress.org project, which Mullenweg argues benefit the entire ecosystem but critics say fall disproportionately on Automattic's balance sheet.
Stabilizing finances, in other words, means doing more with fewer people and focusing only on products with a clear path to revenue.
What Leadership Is Saying
Publicly, Automattic has framed the cuts as a painful but necessary realignment. In internal communications, Mullenweg reportedly thanked departing employees for their contributions and said severance packages, including extended healthcare, would be provided.
"We have to make sure Automattic is healthy, profitable, and durable," he told staff in a recent town hall, echoing language from his blog. "That means prioritizing, simplifying, and reducing spend where we are spread too thin."
The company has not yet issued a formal press release with layoff numbers, a move that has drawn criticism for lack of transparency in a company that has long championed open communication.
What More Layoffs Could Mean For The Future Of WordPress
For users, the immediate impact may be slower support response times on WordPress.com and fewer new features in the short term. For enterprise VIP clients paying tens of thousands per year, the loss of dedicated account teams is raising anxiety about service continuity.
But the bigger question is what this means for WordPress itself. Automattic is by far the largest corporate contributor to the open-source WordPress project, employing many core developers and funding WordPress.org infrastructure. If more cuts follow, development of Gutenberg, performance improvements, and security updates could slow.
Community members are also watching governance closely. With a reconstituted board, departing executives, and Mullenweg facing renewed scrutiny over conflicts between his for-profit company and nonprofit stewardship of WordPress, some developers fear a loss of trust could accelerate migration to alternative platforms.
Others see a potential upside: a leaner, more profitable Automattic could invest more sustainably and reduce its reliance on controversial tactics to extract revenue from the ecosystem.
What To Watch Next
All eyes are now on whether this is a one-time correction or the start of rolling cuts. Employees say additional restructuring announcements are expected before year-end, particularly around Tumblr, which Mullenweg recently said would be shifting to WordPress for infrastructure, and experimental AI initiatives.
Automattic is also expected to provide updated financial guidance to investors and address VIP client concerns in the coming weeks. Until then, uncertainty remains high inside the company's famously distributed workforce.
One thing is clear: after a board shakeup, executive exits, and fresh layoffs, Automattic is entering a new, more austere era — and the ripples will be felt across the entire WordPress world.
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