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Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

en.wikipedia.org

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Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

#11

Post by tombert »

scrollaway wrote: post #7

To put into perspective: the Wikimedia Foundation manages one of humanity’s greatest achievements. I thought it was an open secret that they’re pretty flush with cash overall despite the constant nag for justadollar’. I dunno, maybe I’ve been desensitised but these numbers are not horribly shocking to me, and when put in the context of the immense value the project brings to the rest of the world… I mean come on, loo…

"Con artists" might be a strong term, but honestly I can't blame people for being upset. Obviously Wikipedia is a pretty useful tool, I don't think anyone disputes that, but I think people can be forgiven to think that half-page-sized banners begging for money indicates that they're strapped for cash.

They will have messages like "If everyone reading this right now gave a buck then this donation drive would be finished in five minutes". In hindsight, it feels a bit deceptive even if it's not an outright lie.

Should anyone go to jail for this? No, I think that would be ridiculous, but it does kind of erode a bit of the trust that I had for Wikimedia.

Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

#13

Post by rob74 »

scrollaway wrote: post #7

To put into perspective: the Wikimedia Foundation manages one of humanity’s greatest achievements. I thought it was an open secret that they’re pretty flush with cash overall despite the constant nag for justadollar’. I dunno, maybe I’ve been desensitised but these numbers are not horribly shocking to me, and when put in the context of the immense value the project brings to the rest of the world… I mean come on, loo…

One of humanity's greatest achievements, built by unpaid volunteers - so yes, some might find it shocking that none of the money from the donations that Wikipedia asks for year after year goes to these volunteers, while quite a lot of it is spent on large salaries and even larger severance packages.

Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

#14

Post by andersrs »

Just take a look at this graph. The salaries have been bloating whilst hosting expenses are flat and plummeting as a proportion of all expenses.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi...

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi...

Net assets are sitting at ~$240M about 10x what they were a decade ago. Yet they roll out a sob-story banner on every page insinuating that they might cease to exist if you don't cough up.

It gives me an uneasy feeling that the ex-CEO went to work for a think tank. I hope they're politically neutral.

Obviously it's become a gravy train. At a certain point they should have stopped the begging because clearly they have the resources to run the site several times over.

Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

#15

Post by dpflan »

andersrs wrote: post #14

Just take a look at this graph. The salaries have been bloating whilst hosting expenses are flat and plummeting as a proportion of all expenses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi... Net assets are sitting at ~$240M about 10x what they were a decade ago. Yet they roll out a sob-story banner on every page insinuating that they mi…

Seems like a common trend, pushing down true costs while pushing the difference up the management chain. (The trending growing chasm between wage growth and productivity seems apropos here.)

Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

#16

Post by jackvalentine »

tombert wrote: post #5

Man, I've been fired by for-profit companies and felt lucky to get four weeks severance. It's upsetting that people working for a non-profit are getting 1.5x their salary, but I guess this is kind of what we get for believing that a non-profit is going to act better than an evil corporation.

I have the complete opposite read of the situation to you. I have no beef with people getting treated well by any kind of organisation.

Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

#17

Post by tombert »

andersrs wrote: post #14

Just take a look at this graph. The salaries have been bloating whilst hosting expenses are flat and plummeting as a proportion of all expenses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi... Net assets are sitting at ~$240M about 10x what they were a decade ago. Yet they roll out a sob-story banner on every page insinuating that they mi…

To be fair, salaries going up isn't necessarily a sign of them "bloating". I've worked for startups before at a reduced salary, with the expectation that as they become more stable they'll bump up the salary to a correct number.

In theory, people could have joined Wikimedia at a low salary while they were still struggling, and as they've become way more stable the salaries have gone up as a bit of a correction.

That said....1.5x your annual salary as severance sort of spits in the face of that bit of apologia.

Re: Severance payments at Wikimedia Foundation

#19

Post by thecopy »

andersrs wrote: post #14

Just take a look at this graph. The salaries have been bloating whilst hosting expenses are flat and plummeting as a proportion of all expenses. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikimedia_Foundation#/media/Fi... Net assets are sitting at ~$240M about 10x what they were a decade ago. Yet they roll out a sob-story banner on every page insinuating that they mi…

>politically neutral

What does politically neutral mean?

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