Tech CEO offers workers $30,000 to quit on the spot and is shocked by the results

The CEO of a tech company has spoken out on an 'emotional rollercoaster of a week' after offering workers '$30,000 or six months of salary' to leave.

San Francisco tech company Automattic and another company got into a bit of a spat which led to 'parallel debate' between colleagues.

And after it 'became clear a good chunk' of people 'disagreed' with CEO Matt Mullenweg's actions, he decided to offer them a way out - which an unexpectedly large number of employees took him up on.

In a post on his blog on October 3, Mullenweg quoted none other than Winston Churchill by writing: "Never let a good crisis go to waste."

The CEO then explained after it became clear colleagues didn't all agree with Automattic's actions when it came to dealing with a lawsuit filed by fellow tech WP Engine, they 'decided to design the most generous buy-out package possible'.

Titled the 'Alignment Offer', the package detailed if employees 'resigned before 20:00 UTC on Thursday, October 3, 2024, [they] would receive $30,000 or six months of salary, whichever is higher'.

"But [they'd] lose access to Automattic that evening, and [they] wouldn’t be eligible to boomerang (what we call re-hires)."

What's more, 'HR added some extra details to sweeten the deal,' Mullenweg noting: "We wanted to make it as enticing as possible."

Alas, the deal clearly ended up all too too 'enticing' for some leading to some fairly shocking results and an 'emotional rollercoaster of a week' for the CEO.

Mullenweg offered employees a pretty sweet deal to leave and so off nearly 10 percent of them went (ERIC PIERMONT/AFP via Getty Images)

Mullenweg reveals a whopping total of 159 people took the offer - of who '63.5 percent were male' and '53 percent were in the US' - which is nearly 10 percent of the entire company (8.4 percent to be exact).

Breaking it down even further, the CEO continued: "By division it impacted our Ecosystem / WordPress areas the most: 79.2 percent of the people who took it were in our Ecosystem businesses, compared to 18.2 percent from Cosmos (our apps like Pocket Casts, Day One, Tumblr, Cloudup).

"18 people made over 200k/yr! One person started two days before the deadline. Four people took it then changed their minds."

Mullenweg noted 'every resignation stings a bit' given 'the day you hire someone you aren’t expecting them to resign or be fired, you’re hoping for a long and mutually beneficial relationship'.

However, he resolved he feels 'much lighter' without now the 8.4 percent have left, adding: "I’m grateful and thankful for all the people who took the offer, and even more excited to work with those who turned down $126M to stay.

"As the kids say, LFG!"

Well, that's one way to look at it.

UNILAD has contacted Mullenweg for comment.