WotC Layoffs - Rob Heinsoo, Logan Bonner, and Chris Sims

Jason Bulmahn · Dec 5, 2009

As I have said in previous years...

This sucks. If any of the folks affected are reading this, you have my sympathies.. and offers of a free beer or two the next time I see you.

Jason Bulmahn

Haffrung Helleyes · Dec 5, 2009

"if Paizo is doing well, and they keep hiring WotC people as WotC gets rid of them, well, when they are ready to fill their next position, your favourite writer might have a better than average chance of getting a position. I'm pretty sure that was the rationale behind the suggestion."

Yes, that was the idea behind my suggestion.

Also, Hasbro isn't exactly broke. Their net revenues (after expenses ) were over 3 BILLION dollars last year. They have a share buyback plan whose purpose is to "return excess cash to its shareholders through share repurchases and dividends".

Ken

MortalPlague · Dec 5, 2009

My condolences... I hope everyone involved lands on their feet.

Riley · Dec 5, 2009

"The sackings will continue until morale improves!"

This modern version of WOTC sounds like a terrible company to work for. My sympathies to the latest victims of the revolving door at Wizards.

Dragonblade · Dec 5, 2009

Aristotle said:
I stopped collecting 4th Edition months ago, after having been a fan early on, and have no intention of playing again. I have a lot of reasons for that, but the way WoTC treats their talent... that was a factor for me. I'd rather not support a game or company that is run like that.

There is nothing evil or immoral about a layoff. Of course it sucks for those affected. I won't deny that. I have been restructured out of a position before. But if a company can't control costs because they of some misguided belief that they should never let anyone go, they will eventually go under and then EVERYONE loses their jobs. How is that somehow a more desirous result?

Not buying WotC products will have the exact opposite result from what you want. Lower sales only results in more employees being laid off. If you truly want WotC not to lay people off, to hire more people, and pay better, you should be buying all the 4e product you can.

Umbran · Dec 5, 2009

kenmarable said:
Of course we don't know the full details in this instance, but in the annual layoffs pretty much since 3e came out 9 years ago, those who have spoken have said it was sudden and unexpected like layoffs tend to be everywhere.

Well, if they have been doing this every year (I did a quick search of threads here, and they don't confirm or deny that, I'd have to dig further), then by now it should not be unexpected.

As for those saying how bad it is to lay off at X-mas, allow me to add the following thought:

WotC has a budget, and a fiscal year. If they know they must cut people to meet next years budget, cutting them as close to the deadline as possible keeps them on payroll as long as possible, and allows their severance and unemployment benefits to last as long beyond the holidays as possible. In this economy, every month they stay on the payroll is another month of possible improvement in the general economic situation, making their getting new jobs that much more likely.

So, one might quibble that having a fiscal year that ends with the calendar year necessitates cutting now, as opposed to some other time. But, given that deadline, it seems to me that waiting until the last moment really is doing as well by those employees as possible.

Darrin Drader · Dec 5, 2009

Frylock said:
That would probably be short-sighted. I'm sure they don't enjoy laying off employees. When they (or almost anyone) do, it's usually out of necessity because they aren't getting enough "support" from their fan base for a wide variety of reasons. Using that as the *motivation* to pull your support is counter-productive. In any case, forming an opinion one way or the other without the facts is always reckless.

Every six months or so people are laid off and when someone suggests not supporting them anymore, someone else says that this suggestion is shortsighted. Nevertheless, they keep getting rid of their talent. The sad thing is that in all likelyhood, there are a number of others from throughout the company who are also getting the boot, but you rarely hear about them because they aren't names in the business. At any rate, most of the people who worked on D&D when I was there are gone now, and the ones who are left will probably be gone sooner or later and replaced by newer employees who are brought in at lower salaries. It's a despicable practice, absolutely unconscionable, but it's become par for the course since WotC was sold to Hasbro. Personally, I've taken to giving my gaming dollars to companies that don't fire their senior talent every year.

And for those who have said that it's hard to work in that kind of an environment, you're right. It's one of a handful of reasons I opted to leave the company on my own terms when I had the chance. My stress induced ulcer went away shortly afterward, and I no longer have the joy of going into work wondering if I'll still be able to support my family a few weeks down the line. When I worked there, I couldn't imagine the heartbreak of being laid off, but once I realized that being laid off was a foregone conclusion and showed myself the door, I couldn't imagine ever working for them again.

catsclaw227 · Dec 5, 2009

Umbran said:
WotC has a budget, and a fiscal year. If they know they must cut people to meet next years budget, cutting them as close to the deadline as possible keeps them on payroll as long as possible, and allows their severance and unemployment benefits to last as long beyond the holidays as possible. In this economy, every month they stay on the payroll is another month of possible improvement in the general economic situation, making their getting new jobs that much more likely.

So, one might quibble that having a fiscal year that ends with the calendar year necessitates cutting now, as opposed to some other time. But, given that deadline, it seems to me that waiting until the last moment really is doing as well by those employees as possible.

These are my thoughts as well, but Darrin has a point too.

I imagine they are laying off the ones with the biggest salaries, and that most positively affects the bottom line when the numbers need to be good at the end of the fiscal year.

I hope that their severance pay is good enough to get them through the holidays and on to other positions.

I once worked for a mid-sized company that laid off people each year as well, and I was one of the ones that got laid off, but their severance was a golden balloon, three full months of pay plus I was able to receive unemployment.

It gave me plenty enough time to find a new job.

Does anyone know how good severance pay at WOTC has been in the past?

DaveMage · Dec 5, 2009

I remain amazed that people even apply for jobs at WotC anymore.

And for those that are still there (especially in the D&D arena), I really hope for your sake that you're continually checking the job market because it seems like it's only a matter of time before your number will be called....