> 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.
Based on previous years' experience, WMF software development teams focus on specific tasks and generally avoid tasks outside their immediate focus. This means for examplke that extensions such as Maps and Upload Wizard largely lost support because the responsible team was dissolved. The Community Tech team also handled tasks that did not specifically fall under any other team's responsibility. (such as https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Community_Wishlist but not only that, for example, the Upload Wizard was afaik picked up by community tech) In any case I would have liked to see that number of Community Tech people would have increase instead of decrease. Br, -- Kimmo Virtanen, Zache On Fri, May 22, 2026 at 9:15 PM Jaluj Wikipedista via All-affiliates < [email protected]> wrote: > I understand the anguish of those who will lose a paid job but I don't see > why the volunteers who have never been paid for their work and are the ones > who build wikipedia and sister projects should be bothered that Community > Tech will become a cross-team program rather than a dedicated team. > > El vie, 22 may 2026 a las 14:04, James Heilman via All-affiliates (< > [email protected]>) escribió: > >> I always thought we should double the community tech team. One for >> Wikipedia and one for the sister projects. >> >> I guess the question is should the community try to take on this work? >> With movement funds of course. >> >> J >> >> >> Sent from Gmail Mobile >> >> On Thu, May 21, 2026 at 22:30 Nemoralis via All-affiliates < >> [email protected]> wrote: >> >>> 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 >>> >>> _______________________________________________ >>> All-affiliates mailing list -- [email protected] >>> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >>> >> _______________________________________________ >> All-affiliates mailing list -- [email protected] >> To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >> > _______________________________________________ > All-affiliates mailing list -- [email protected] > To unsubscribe send an email to [email protected] >
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