Folks in WordPress and hosting have had a couple of difficult months. A number of organizations have had good old fashioned RIFs (reductions in force) which are never fun those let go or the ones having to do the letting go. I come today to bury, not praise, the layoffs. Of these there is not much more to say.

What we should celebrate however, is the compassion, generosity, and resilience of the WordPress community. I have rarely seen such a social media outpouring of condolences and offers to help for and from so many people in any industry. I dare say this may be unique to the WordPress community:

There are just so many resources available, and what continues to astound me is the free help and connections folks are happy to provide. There is a bigger point.

These relationships don’t exist in a vacuum. The fact is that not only are there 1000’s (10’s of 1000’s!) of individuals in the community just based on their career, but also because many have chosen to be in this community through their contributions to the project: from attending WordCamps to committing code, to partaking in a number of other projects at Make WordPress. What I’m saying is get involved, look at Five for the Future, and partake in one of the strongest technology communities in the world.

I’ve got High Hopes for the future of WordPress!