The Ethereum Foundation is undergoing a major restructuring: a 20% staff reduction and a transition to a new governance model.
The Ethereum Foundation (EF) has completed a multi-month reorganization aimed at optimizing its internal structure and improving treasury management efficiency. The key outcome of this process was a 20% reduction in staff, with 54 employees parting ways with the foundation.
The new EF structure is based on five working clusters: Protocol Layer, Access Layer, User Layer, Community Layer, and Institutional Layer. Additionally, operations and management support blocks have been allocated. This architecture is designed to eliminate duplicate functions and accelerate decision-making amid growing competition in the L1 layer.
The foundation offered laid-off employees severance pay of at least one month's salary for each year of service or the local statutory minimum. Assistance in finding a new role within the Ethereum ecosystem and a small grant for related expenses were also provided. This indicates that EF leadership aims to retain the loyalty of key personnel even during the restructuring process.
Analytical Commentary
A 20% staff reduction is not just budget optimization but a signal of EF's shift toward a more decentralized and flexible management model. In the past, the foundation was often criticized for excessive bureaucracy and sluggishness. The new cluster structure could be a step toward distributing responsibility among various working groups without creating a single decision-making center. However, the success of this reorganization will directly depend on how quickly the new clusters can coordinate their actions and begin delivering tangible results.