Category: Uncategorized

Re: Your Employees Hate You

I left Automattic too. I got fired, and I was wronged. Genuinely wronged in a very unfair way. There are specific folks there who made decisions that hurt my career and mental health badly. I’m not over it, and I probably won’t be for a while. It hurts in many ways.

Yet I also have huge admiration and appreciation for Matt and Automattic. I had many great years before this happened. So please don’t make it look like every current and former Automattician feels this way.

Be specific about real problems or your own feelings instead of painting everyone as having the same view.

“I don’t know a SINGLE former Automattician […] who has anything good to say about this company.” Really? Not one? I know plenty of folks who had mixed experiences. Some divisions and teams were great, others were difficult to deal with.

“I’m sure the majority of current employees feel exactly the same way.” Based on what? Your feelings? I’m still in touch with many former coworkers who are genuinely happy there.

I don’t know a SINGLE former Automattician – whether they quit or got the sack – who has anything good to say about this company. NOT ONE. I’m sure there are some folks (possibly the ones who boomeranged), but I don’t know a single one who shares a positive view.

When the majority of ex-employees (again, amongst my mates 100% of them) share the same negative experience, that’s not bad luck or “poor culture fit” – that’s systemic failure. But here’s the hard truth: I’m sure the majority of current employees feel exactly the same way. I had a proper chat with many of them. Most of my former teammates said the same.

They just can’t say it publicly because they need the wage or they’re terrified of retaliation. The golden handcuffs are real, and speaking up means putting your head above the parapet and risking everything.

The only difference between ex-employees and current employees is that one group can finally tell the truth without catching any grief for it.

These two messages show the problemat(t)ic relationship between Matt, Automattic, and WordPress. Is WP Engine taking advantage of Matt’s personal website? Or are they taking advantage of the Open Source community? Which is it?

Also, “We believe it’s important to prioritize the community’s contributions…”. Really? Is that why he’s been banning contributors left or right for speaking out against his bullying? That’s caring for the community?

It’s very common for bullies to accuse their victims of exactly what they are doing. This makes them feel like their actions are a fair reaction instead of an intentional attack. Matt has been acting surprised that WPE filed a lawsuit against him after he spent a whole week attacking them.

Another common tactic is for the aggressor to try to make their problem the problem of others. Matt continues to say that WPE is attacking the WordPress foundation and the opensource community. No, they are not. They are suing Matt for weaponizing the opensource community.

Matt states “Freedom of Speech is not Freedom of Reach”. Hmmm…. like how he blocked all WPE users and employees from accessing the opensource platform? Like how his has repeatedly banned random people for as little as adding emojis to his childish posts? Is that speech, or is it reach?

Hey Matt, have you looked in the mirror recently?

Matt might be kind most of the time. But anyone who’s been in the community long enough knows that he has also frequently been a petty bully, willing to pay $100K to buy a domain and steal traffic from a business or call a journalist’s boss to try and get them fired.

As with most bullies, they usually pick on weaker people who have no chance to retaliate. This time he picked a fight with someone that might hit him back.