To be clear I wasn't trying to say that those employees aren't doing useful work, just that they're non-essential. One could argue that product design/engineeri

To be clear I wasn't trying to say that those employees aren't doing useful work, just that they're non-essential. One could argue that product design/engineering/management isn't essential to running Wikipedia either, especially if the work is for sister projects rather than WP itself. And I imagine departments like HR could be much smaller if the org was much smaller. Maybe WMF's budget is justifiable based on its impact. I think most of us just want WMF to be upfront about how donors' funds are used, i.e. to not imply that donations are needed to keep the lights on, so that donors can make an informed decision. Most editors agree that the current banner messaging is misleading, as per the linked proposal.