Automattic

Automattic Culture Primer

About Automattic

We are the people behind WordPress.com, WooCommerce, Jetpack, WordPress VIP, Simplenote, Longreads, WPScan, Akismet, Gravatar, Crowdsignal, Cloudup, Tumblr, Day One, Pocket Casts, and more. We believe in making the web a better place.

We’re a distributed company with 1,940 Automatticians in 95 countries speaking 120 different languages. We’re committed to diversity, equity, and inclusion, and our common goal is to democratize publishing and commerce so that anyone with a story can tell it, and anyone with a product can sell it, regardless of income, gender, politics, language, or where they live in the world.

We believe in Open Source and the vast majority of our work is available under the GPL.

We strive to live by the Automattic Creed.

Automattic is a Most Loved Company and Disability Confident Committed.

About Our Community

Automattic is a diverse, international community.

Members speak different languages and come from different socioeconomic backgrounds; they vary in appearance and have different religious beliefs; they are parents or childless by choice, single or partnered, married or not. Automatticians identify as Black, indigenous, and people of color (BIPOC); as lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer, intersex, and asexual (LGBTQIA+); as women or men, non-binary or agender; as neurodivergent or as having physical limitations or disabilities.

Our work reaches every corner of the globe.

Recommendations for Guest Speakers

Automattic is a global employer. 

  • Use plain language. To communicate effectively, avoid colloquial terms and idioms that may confuse or exclude people who don’t speak your first or preferred language fluently. 
  • Choose dates that avoid major global religious and cultural holidays and observances.

Automattic is an asynchronous, remote-only organization. 

  • Respect boundaries. Many participants may not have met each other in person before. 
  • Involve remote attendees. Some people will be joining events remotely – even for live events.
  • Welcome people in both hemispheres, and in multiple time zones (it may be morning for some attendees and night for others).

Automattic is a diverse, equitable, and inclusive workplace.

  • Use gender-neutral language, gender-neutral options for gendered words, and don’t assume people’s pronouns. Automattic is a gender-inclusive workplace. 
  • Prioritize diversity. Choose images and examples that are inclusive of physical characteristics, experiences, perspectives/thoughts, and abilities.
  • Embrace terminology that respects a diversity of lived experiences, and historical backgrounds, especially as this relates to culture, race, and nationality.

Automattic supports equity measures for employees with a range of disabilities.

  • Provide accessible materials for people with disabilities: Caption any audio or video, add text descriptions to visuals, use suitable contrast between text and backgrounds, and use a reasonable font size.
  • Distribute resources in multiple formats to support different ways of learning, for example, a written reference to accompany a spoken presentation.
  • Choose activities that include people with mobility issues. Avoid required periods of walking, standing, etc.
  • Encourage people to take short breaks.
  • Promote interactions that include neurodivergent people. Avoid loud noises, bright lights, extended eye contact, and activities that only favor neurotypical social interaction.
  • Focus on harmonious exchanges. Avoid interactions that may cause stress, or trigger disagreeable emotions.
  • Avoid flashing lights.