D&D 5E Kate Welch has left WotC

[jerryrice4949]

is this going to be another "Mike Mearls is locked in a WotC dungeon thread"? Guys, sometimes people move on after a few years in a job even if nothing goes wrong.

Yes!!!!! I don’t know what it is about Enworld members and WoTC conspiracy theories but it seems like every time an employee leaves or doesn’t post on Twitter, people think something nefarious is going on.

 

[Dioltach]

Yes!!!!! I don’t know what it is about Enworld members and WoTC conspiracy theories but it seems like every time an employee leaves or doesn’t post on Twitter, people think something nefarious is going on.

ENWorld uses special coding to make its members more paranoid and susceptible to conspiracy theories...

 

[Urriak Uruk]

is this going to be another "Mike Mearls is locked in a WotC dungeon thread"? Guys, sometimes people move on after a few years in a job even if nothing goes wrong.

I don't want to delve in that rabbit hole, but it's pretty obvious that Mearls has gotten some talking-to from WotC HR, explaining his lack of appearance on any media anymore (but he's definitely still an employee). Literally any time his name is mentioned Twitter drives itself into a frenzy on how he should be fired.

 

[Burnside]

Yeah. Odds are she’s just... “done”. She’s had a successful run at a business and is going to parley that into another, better job for her.

Or she’s gonna take a vacation.

Or Hasbro is losing a bunch of money right now.

Their stock price went from 100 to a little over 40 in a month. Since then, it's plateaued at a little under 80. So a lot of very rich investors have lost a LOT of money. They need to make up in overhead costs.

Freelance writers are cheaper than employees. And it's clear they're using a ton of freelancers now.

 

[TheSword]

Or Hasbro is losing a bunch of money right now.

Their stock price went from 100 to a little over 40 in a month. Since then, it's plateaued at a little under 80. So a lot of very rich investors have lost a LOT of money. They need to make up in overhead costs.

Freelance writers are cheaper than employees. And it's clear they're using a ton of freelancers now.

What caused the stock change?
Just retail reduction due to Covid?

I suspect a company the size of Hasbro making one redundancy as part of a cost saving scheme is highly unlikely. They employ just shy of 6,000 people. If it comes to those kinds of decisions it will be hundreds.

 

[Burnside]

What caused the stock change?
Just retail reduction due to Covid?

I suspect a company the size of Hasbro making one redundancy as part of a cost saving scheme is highly unlikely. They employ just shy of 6,000 people. If it comes to those kinds of decisions it will be hundreds.

Oh, I'm sure it's not just one redundancy for Hasbro. Although it might be the only one at WotC. There is probably cost cutting across the board, and most of it in divisions that don't perform as well as WotC does. But Hasbro's revenue was down 29% in Q2. A publicly traded-company doesn't just eat losses like that - they will cut costs, and people.

And, yes, sorry, of course it's due to Covid. I thought that went without saying.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Or Hasbro is losing a bunch of money right now.

Their stock price went from 100 to a little over 40 in a month. Since then, it's plateaued at a little under 80. So a lot of very rich investors have lost a LOT of money. They need to make up in overhead costs.

Freelance writers are cheaper than employees. And it's clear they're using a ton of freelancers now.

I doubt that was the reason. Their stock almost immediately rebounded better than most companies, and if you were going to do layoffs to reduce overhead, you'd reduce A LOT of staff. Her salary is insignificant in terms of overall stock value loss or gain. Also, it makes no sense to let go of the people who did a good job for you. A lot of other folks would be laid off before Kate.

 

[Deset Gled]

I doubt that was the reason. Their stock almost immediately rebounded better than most companies, and if you were going to do layoffs to reduce overhead, you'd reduce A LOT of staff. Her salary is insignificant in terms of overall stock value loss or gain. Also, it makes no sense to let go of the people who did a good job for you. A lot of other folks would be laid off before Kate.

Large companies take a lot of options besides firing people that influence their workers. They can do things like freeze salaries, take away bonuses, cut benefits, remove 401k contributions, or even take away the free coffee in the break room. Also, there are cases where you have to strategically time when you leave a company based on stock options, retirement benefits, bonuses, etc. Based on the wording, my guess is that a combination of these things (and personal life stuff) made Kate quit when she did. Or she has another job lined up and is contractually obligated to not talk about it yet.

 

[Sacrosanct]

Large companies take a lot of options besides firing people that influence their workers. They can do things like freeze salaries, take away bonuses, cut benefits, remove 401k contributions, or even take away the free coffee in the break room. Also, there are cases where you have to strategically time when you leave a company based on stock options, retirement benefits, bonuses, etc. Based on the wording, my guess is that a combination of these things (and personal life stuff) made Kate quit when she did. Or she has another job lined up and is contractually obligated to not talk about it yet.

I have no idea why she is no longer working with WoTC. Only she and her manager knows, and that's their business and a lot of the speculation isn't very helpful. But she does not have another job lined up. She was in IG asking what jobs she should apply for, so it sounds like it wasn't for a new opportunity.

 

[billd91]

Their stock price went from 100 to a little over 40 in a month. Since then, it's plateaued at a little under 80. So a lot of very rich investors have lost a LOT of money. They need to make up in overhead costs.

More likely a lot of rich investors made a lot of money selling off the stock and causing the value to fall for those who held onto it.