It was and is about user traffic, not employees. WMF was at least implied to be one of the specific targets, because NSA had the Wikipedia logo on some slides

It was and is about user traffic, not employees. WMF was at least implied to be one of the specific targets, because NSA had the Wikipedia logo on some slides about this program which were leaked by Snowden. Also, there was research showing the "chilling effect" - controversial articles saw less traffic in the wake of said leaks.