I appreciate that this article actually cites some of the relevant discussions. Wikipedia community processes are unusual in that they are largely public, inclu

I appreciate that this article actually cites some of the relevant discussions. Wikipedia community processes are unusual in that they are largely public, including that foundation staff members respond to community questions in public, so you can read a lot of the backstory yourself. Here are a few links. Main discussion about Community Tech team on the Village Pump (discussion board): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#WMF_Community_Tech_team_has_been_disbanded,_engineers_laid_off https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#W... * Response from the WMF (21 May): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#Response_from_the_WMF_(21_May) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#R... * Note from the Wikimedia Foundation on unionization: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#Note_from_the_Wikimedia_Foundation_on_unionization https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#N... * Response from the WMF (22 May): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#Response_from_the_WMF_(22_May) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#R... * WWU statement (May 23): https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#WWU_statement_(May_23) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#W... * Response from WMF 24 May: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#Response_from_WMF_24_May https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wikipedia:Village_pump_(WMF)#R... The 24 May statement includes "I know many of you asked why we cannot just guarantee people new roles...we have 4 countries represented, with a wide variance in required actions. I want to note one specific requirement that came from these laws: we could not pre-select certain staff for new roles, as that would appear to be circumventing legally required processes in some countries." Discussion about proposed direction for Community Wishlist: https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Wishlist#Proposed_direction_for_Wishlist https://meta.wikimedia.org/wiki/Talk:Community_Wishlist#Prop...