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>So we decided to design the most generous buy-out package possible, we called it an Alignment Offer: if you resigned before 20:00 UTC on Thursday, October 3, 2
by mtlynch 2y ago
>So we decided to design the most generous buy-out package possible, we called it an Alignment Offer: if you resigned before 20:00 UTC on Thursday, October 3, 2024, you would receive $30,000 or six months of salary, whichever is higher. But you’d lose access to Automattic that evening, and you wouldn’t be eligible to boomerang (what we call re-hires). HR added some extra details to sweeten the deal; we wanted to make it as enticing as possible.
Mullenweg doesn't explain when the offer was announced, but the earliest I can imagine is the Monday after he blocked WPE customers from accessing wordpress.org, which would mean employees had a max of four days to consider this deal. If it was after the WPE lawsuit, then employees had less than a day to consider it.
For comparison, when Basecamp did this in 2021, they originally had a deadline for the offer but extended it indefinitely.[0]
It's interesting to compare the way DHH presents the buyouts to the way Mullenweg does. Here's DHH[1]:
>Yesterday, we offered everyone at Basecamp an option of a severance package worth up to six months salary for those who've been with the company over three years, and three months salary for those at the company less than that. No hard feelings, no questions asked. For those who cannot see a future at Basecamp under this new direction, we'll help them in every which way we can to land somewhere else.
DHH's explanation of the buyout feels gracious and that he genuinely wished well to the employees who accepted the buyout.
Mullenweg explaining his buyout just feels like a petty tyrant purging anyone who won't pledge loyalty to him. He highlights the tight deadline and the immediate shunning of employees who take the deal. He uses the word "enticing" as if the employees who accept the deal are the weak-willed ones who succumbed to temptation.
[0] https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/3/22418208/basecamp-all-hands-meeting-employee-resignations-buyouts-implosion https://www.theverge.com/2021/5/3/22418208/basecamp-all-hand...
[1] https://world.hey.com/dhh/let-it-all-out-78485e8e https://world.hey.com/dhh/let-it-all-out-78485e8e
- photomatt 2y agoIt was posted on September 30 ~10pm UTC, so people had about 4 days to decide.
- mtlynch 2y agoIf it was posted Monday, September 30 at 22:00 UTC and the deadline was Thursday, October 3 at 20:00 UTC, that's less than three days. It's 2 days, 22 hours.
- jfdndbqirncnx 2y agoHe’s a PHP dev, you can’t honestly expect him to be able to count.
- photomatt 2y agoThis was more generous than both the Basecamp and Coinbase buyout offers, I'm curious why you say I'm a petty tyrant. I can be a little ASD so sometimes my written communication doesn't come through the best.
- bdndndndbve 2y agoMy guy, I know lots of autistic people. You're not coming across as autistic, you're giving straight up Napoleon marching into Russia with this one.
- photomatt 2y agoThank you for the feedback. I'll try to do better.
- fhfhfhjfnfnfmf 2y ago[flagged]
- HaZeust 2y agoStart now.
- MikeDVB 2y agoStart last week, last month, or even years ago.
- sureIy 2y agoStop fighting WPE if you actually want to do better.
- batch12 2y agoIt looks to me like passive aggressive lynch mobbing. Putting the issues aside, you seem to be doing a good job not letting the comments that charge you with medical and psychological issues get to you. Figured I'd throw at least one positive comment your way.
- senadir 2y agoThe offer had no limits (someone who was at the company for 2 days took it). Matt was also willing to continue sponsoring visa for the 6 months for whoever is on an work visa. This was a very distracting 4 days, I'm glad it ended quickly, the dust is settling now, and we're slowly going back to work.
- throwaway984393 2y ago[dead]
- legitster 2y agoI think it's incredibly naïve to think that it's over now. The legal ramifications of what Automattic has done have not even started to set in motion. Also, as a longtime WP user, my understanding of the product is... pretty different now to say the least.
- senadir 2y agoThe whole drama is not done, but the colleagues and friends leaving all at once is done, and that was stressful, you don't know who's leaving next until you see their name.
- legitster 2y agoTo OP's point, I don't think the provided buyout window was long enough to determine that. If a bunch of other shoes drop, like more stuff comes out of discovery with the WP Engine lawsuit, knowing that you only had 4 days to accept or GTFO might still leave a bunch of on the fence employees.
- deleted 2y ago[deleted]
- xnorswap 2y agoBeing made to make that kind of decision in such a short time clearly isn't fair. In many jurisdictions it would be an unfair contract. To then say "Look at how many people didn't take up the offer so they clearly support us" despite such a short notice on the offer makes a mockery of the company and it's leadership.
- MOARDONGZPLZ 2y ago> In many jurisdictions it would be an unfair contract. Can you talk more about this? What jurisdictions? Is an unfair contract a legal term?
- xnorswap 2y agoI'm not a lawyer, but there is the concept in English law of duress which can invalidate contracts that had undue pressure. My point was a broader one not a legal one, that the company is acting in a manner that is hostile to a good work environment, putting up this kind of life-changing decision with only a few days to decide and then trying to paint decisions to stay as being a champion of the current direction. That's treating your workforce with contempt. Make the same offer with 30 days notice and see how many stay.
- sleepybrett 2y ago[flagged]