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Jeff Grubb on WotC and layoffs
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<blockquote data-quote="Thornir Alekeg" data-source="post: 5757687" data-attributes="member: 15651"><p>A series of somewhat connected thoughts after reading through this thread:</p><p></p><p>I don't know with absolute certainty about the Hasbro/WotC relationship, but I know from my own experience working for a smaller company, bought by a major corporation, but left as a subsidiary company, that the CEO and board are likely not controlling things at WotC to the point where they decide to have Christmas layoffs there. More likely WotC has certain goals set by the corporation, and as the end of the fiscal year approaches senior management at WotC has to do something to meet those goals. How exactly they do so is made at the WotC senior management levels. Executive Management approves the decision, but does not make it and won't step in unless they see something seriously wrong (not likely if they make their goals). I have no idea who runs the business side of WotC, but my feeling is that they are not bold leaders who are willing to take risks to change up the business model and attempt to achieve greater success at the risk of doing worse and getting fired themselves.</p><p></p><p>Regarding the firing of veterans, because a single individual achieves greater savings: that is only true to a certain degree. Benefits are pretty level across pay grade and are a large cost to the company. Laying off two employees making 50k is worth more than one employee making 100k. It is a balancing act between who and how many people you actually need to accomplish the work. In a creative industry such as RPGs, the other issue is one of the new, creative blood versus a veteran who is coming up with fewer really new ideas. </p><p></p><p>Comparing RPG talent to NFL players: Please! Even star players are traded, contracts not renewed etc. It is only the rare talent that gets the Franchise tag and knows they are safe for a long time. </p><p></p><p>Dangers of the cyclical layoff of veterans: Someone mentioned in an earlier post that WotC has the best salaries in the industry: that's because they have to. The calculus of a talented RPG writer has to take into account that they might only have the job for a short time before they get hit in the annual purging; therefore the upfront compensation has to be higher in order to bring them in, and some won't take the risk no matter what. While there is no such thing as a guaranteed job in this day and age, a company with a reputation for standing behind their staff will be able to attract talent at a lower cost because the employees are more certain that longer term employment is dependent on their own performance and what they achieve for the company, rather than the short-term bottom line.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Thornir Alekeg, post: 5757687, member: 15651"] A series of somewhat connected thoughts after reading through this thread: I don't know with absolute certainty about the Hasbro/WotC relationship, but I know from my own experience working for a smaller company, bought by a major corporation, but left as a subsidiary company, that the CEO and board are likely not controlling things at WotC to the point where they decide to have Christmas layoffs there. More likely WotC has certain goals set by the corporation, and as the end of the fiscal year approaches senior management at WotC has to do something to meet those goals. How exactly they do so is made at the WotC senior management levels. Executive Management approves the decision, but does not make it and won't step in unless they see something seriously wrong (not likely if they make their goals). I have no idea who runs the business side of WotC, but my feeling is that they are not bold leaders who are willing to take risks to change up the business model and attempt to achieve greater success at the risk of doing worse and getting fired themselves. Regarding the firing of veterans, because a single individual achieves greater savings: that is only true to a certain degree. Benefits are pretty level across pay grade and are a large cost to the company. Laying off two employees making 50k is worth more than one employee making 100k. It is a balancing act between who and how many people you actually need to accomplish the work. In a creative industry such as RPGs, the other issue is one of the new, creative blood versus a veteran who is coming up with fewer really new ideas. Comparing RPG talent to NFL players: Please! Even star players are traded, contracts not renewed etc. It is only the rare talent that gets the Franchise tag and knows they are safe for a long time. Dangers of the cyclical layoff of veterans: Someone mentioned in an earlier post that WotC has the best salaries in the industry: that's because they have to. The calculus of a talented RPG writer has to take into account that they might only have the job for a short time before they get hit in the annual purging; therefore the upfront compensation has to be higher in order to bring them in, and some won't take the risk no matter what. While there is no such thing as a guaranteed job in this day and age, a company with a reputation for standing behind their staff will be able to attract talent at a lower cost because the employees are more certain that longer term employment is dependent on their own performance and what they achieve for the company, rather than the short-term bottom line. [/QUOTE]
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