gribble
Explorer
First, I just want to give my condolences and best wishes to those laid off.
Second, I have to disagree with this one. Mass hiring/layoff of staff is not normal business practice by any stretch of the imagination. A well run business will have a good handle on both it's current and future work, and maintain a level of staff which is sufficient to meet that work, given normal staff turnover. Temporary spikes should (for the most part) be able to be met by tightening the belt in other areas, dipping into cash reserves, or utilising temporary (contract) staff. Sure, unexpected events can happen (although in the better run companies even a lot of these "unexpected" events can be forecast or at least catered for), but IMO any company that regularly goes through these boom and bust cycles is poorly run.
Does this necessarily mean doom and gloom? No, but lets not put our heads in the sand and pretend this is just part of the normal day-to-day activities of a well run company... at the very least WotC seems to have some very shoddy senior management.
But let's not compound the suckiness by drawing sensational conclusions from what is simply a normal business practice.
Second, I have to disagree with this one. Mass hiring/layoff of staff is not normal business practice by any stretch of the imagination. A well run business will have a good handle on both it's current and future work, and maintain a level of staff which is sufficient to meet that work, given normal staff turnover. Temporary spikes should (for the most part) be able to be met by tightening the belt in other areas, dipping into cash reserves, or utilising temporary (contract) staff. Sure, unexpected events can happen (although in the better run companies even a lot of these "unexpected" events can be forecast or at least catered for), but IMO any company that regularly goes through these boom and bust cycles is poorly run.
Does this necessarily mean doom and gloom? No, but lets not put our heads in the sand and pretend this is just part of the normal day-to-day activities of a well run company... at the very least WotC seems to have some very shoddy senior management.