Community response to WMF layoffs and labor concerns

Nariman Mammadli via Wikimedia-l <[email protected]> Fri, 22 May 2026 00:32:47 +0400
Newsgroups	gmane.org.wikimedia.foundation
Message-ID	<[email protected]>
Fellow Wikimedians,

Many of you have likely already seen the Wikimedia Foundation's 
announcement that the Community Tech team is being dissolved and that 
five engineers and one manager are losing their roles as part of a 
restructuring of the Community Wishlist process.

The official explanation is that Community Tech will become a cross-team 
"program" rather than a dedicated team, and that this model will 
supposedly allow more teams to work on community wishes. However, many 
editors, functionaries, and technical contributors across Wikimedia 
projects have raised serious concerns about both the substance and 
timing of this decision.

Several issues are driving alarm within the community:

• The Community Tech team was one of the few WMF engineering groups 
explicitly focused on community-requested technical work.
• The engineers affected include highly experienced contributors with 
deep institutional and community knowledge, including former stewards 
and longtime technical volunteers.
• WMF leadership has stated that this is not a budget reduction, which 
raises the question of why layoffs were necessary at all instead of 
reassignment.
• The restructuring was announced amid ongoing organizing efforts 
connected to Wiki Workers United (WWU), leading many contributors to 
fear retaliation or union-busting behavior, regardless of WMF denials.
• There is currently little concrete information about accountability, 
staffing, or ownership under the new “program” structure.

This is no longer being viewed by many contributors as merely an 
internal staffing change. It is increasingly seen as part of a broader 
pattern of disconnect between WMF leadership and the volunteer 
communities that build and maintain Wikimedia projects.

In response, editors have begun organizing solidarity actions and a 
strike mandate petition expressing willingness to support Wiki Workers 
United if collective action becomes necessary.

The petition is not itself a strike. It is a statement that contributors 
are prepared to stand in solidarity with Wikimedia workers and defend 
community accountability if requested.

You can read the ongoing discussions here:

  *

    https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Wishlist#May_20_update

  *

    https://w.wiki/Nt5V

If you are concerned about:

  *

    the future of community-driven technical development,

  *

    the treatment of Wikimedia staff,

  *

    possible anti-union retaliation,

  *

    or the growing disconnect between WMF leadership and the editing
    community,

please consider joining the discussion, spreading awareness, and signing 
the solidarity petition.

Take action: https://wikiworkersunited.org/take-action-community/
Sign the petition: https://w.wiki/Nt5n

In solidarity,
Nemoralis

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