Unconfirmed: More Layoffs at WotC

[Azgulor]

Hasbro is probably not likely to have several HR departments and policies, at least in the United States. So, I'd argue that it's no indication of WotC necessarily either.

I'd tend to agree. HR policies per division could be in play, however, so that's why I gave the benefit of the doubt to the first conclusion despite thinking it an unlikely indicator.

 

[pedr]

I'd tend to agree. HR policies per division could be in play, however, so that's why I gave the benefit of the doubt to the first conclusion despite thinking it an unlikely indicator.

I'm pretty sure that I'm not following this conversation terribly well, but I thought WotC was an individual company which is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hasbro, rather than part of the Hasbro corporation itself (I'm no company lawyer, but my mental image is of WotC as something Hasbro owns, and over which it has absolute control due to its 100% shareholding).

If that's the case, WotC will have separate everything - legal, HR, building management, etc departments, and their own policies, set by the directors/executives appointed by Hasbro. Terms and conditions of employment could be entirely different for people who work at WotC compared with people who are directly employed by Hasbro. I could be wrong, and this could be irrelevant to the discussion here (which has become very complex!) but I thought it worth noting.

 

[MrGrenadine]

The point is that if the company were in trouble, they wouldn't have scheduled lay offs anyways. They'd lay people off as necessary, not according to a schedule. Scheduled lay offs, on the other hand, are a very stable way of managing your workforce.

Sure...if you'd like to manage your workforce down to zero.

Without commensurate hiring to balance the layoffs, periodic layoffs are simply not a sign of corporate health.

Now, if WotC was somehow automating their work flow, or otherwise making themselves so much more efficient that they simply don't need as many bodies in the office, then thats a different matter.

But I would find this hard to believe, since WotC's product line consists of creative work done by rare, talented individuals who (hopefully) care about the product. Tough to automate that.

 

[MrMyth]

Sure...if you'd like to manage your workforce down to zero.

Without commensurate hiring to balance the layoffs, periodic layoffs are simply not a sign of corporate health.

But... does anyone actually feel that WotC only has layoffs, and never brings in any new staff? I mean, the periodic layoffs have been happening for almost a decade now. I've always gotten the sense that new employees are also getting brought in on a regular basis.

With exceptions like the Gleemax situation, it has not been my understanding that WotC has done nothing but shrink. Perhaps generally a bit more bulking up around any edition launch, and then slimming down after that, but both of those still involving ongoing hiring and firing throughout.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

But I would find this hard to believe, since WotC's product line consists of creative work done by rare, talented individuals who (hopefully) care about the product. Tough to automate that.

With respect for those who do the job, and have more talent for this line of work than I do, there is no shortage of talented and capable people who want to work at WotC. So WotC gets to cherry-pick and lay off with no apparent business consequences.

The discussion of whether or not the management's decision to have regular layoffs is good or bad is clearly going nowhere. Former employees have indicated in this thread that layoffs are not necesarily related to financial perfomance, and have not been for years.

So aside from the fact of the layoffs and the people affected by the decision, what's left to discuss? Unless Greg Leeds decides to explain the rationale, we're just not going to know.

It just occured to me that even the CEO position has been a bit of a revolving door at WotC as well...there have been 5 CEOs in the last 10 years.

 

[Fifth Element]

If that's the case, WotC will have separate everything - legal, HR, building management, etc departments, and their own policies, set by the directors/executives appointed by Hasbro.

It's quite possible for some of these things to be seperate - but one of the reasons that one company acquires another is to take advantage of efficiencies. Hasbro's legal department, for example, might make a seperate legal department at WotC redundant.

Terms and conditions of employment could be entirely different for people who work at WotC compared with people who are directly employed by Hasbro.

They very well could be. On the other hand, Hasbro could very well have policies that apply to all its subsidiaries.

 

[ruemere]

Term "lying" might be to strong to use here, however "avoiding factual statements" appears to be appropriate.

Lying by omission?

Lying by omission is about providing information in such a way as to lead someone else to draw false conclusions.
Avoiding factual statements is about not providing certain information - there need not be any ulterior motive to this apart from company policy or desire to protect trade secrets.
There is a world of difference between these two.

Note:
I am intentionally replying to you, as Hobo comes forward bit too aggressively for my taste - I tend to avoid crusading characters due to their tendency to oversimplify things.

Note 2:
I strongly suspect that you probably made that remark to draw my reply only. You've succeeded.

Note 3:
I am in favor of closing this topic. While I think that Hasbro/WotC deserve negative karma, empty speculation is out of place - things which needed to be said, appeared within 10 pages of the beginning of this thread.
Now we have various people arguing over possible, yet groundless, explanations.

So, be positive, try to discourage people from working there (good parting terms do not change the fact that people there are treated like cows - milk them dry, then throw them out) and move on.

Regards,
Ruemere

 

[PaulofCthulhu]

It's all a bit "Greek Science", really. The people in the know aren't talking and it's virtually impossible to make accurate inferences from scraps of information.

As of now, WotC is still there, still producing D&D and with lots of plans to do so as far as I can see.

Whatever your views on the current edition of D&D, it's still a social tabletop game and should be celebrated as such. Well, I think so.

 

[Jack99]

This popcorn is awesome!

 

[coyote6]

This popcorn is awesome!

Is it buttered?

Real butter?