WotC WotC - why are we still shocked with layoffs?

[cranberry]

I don't think anyone is downplaying the layoffs.

What people are saying is that layoffs to stabilize stock prices is part of modern public corporation capitalism.

This is what happen when you are big and public.

Yea, I know why corps do it.

But people who say "oh it's just what corps do. "Corps will be corps after all" sound like they are saying it's no big deal if you read between the lines.

 

[cranberry]

Was it a "big deal"?

It may have been to the people who were laid off....

People are often laid off often due to the poor planning of the Execs who (rarely) have to face any material consequences for their decisions.

 

[Oofta]

It may have been to the people who were laid off....

The people that were interviewed were dissapointed, but still positive about the company and would happily work there again. That tells me that at least the D&D division treated them well, even when they were laid off. What do you expect from companies? I may disagree with the reason they were let go, not that we know what the reasons are, but there is never a guarantee of employment. Companies grow and reduce the number of people they employ all the time for all sorts of reasons.

 

[jgsugden]

You look out a window at work. There is a guy in a yellow hard hat and an orange jacket messing around in an electrical box. he suddenly leaps back as sparks fly out of the box. You're not sure if he was shocked or leapt back right before disaster. He gestures to someone else who comes over and reaches into the box - and leaps back as sparks leap from the box. They confer for a moment and then call over another person who also ends up leaping back in a shower of sparks. As the next person approaches you will likely have a reaction like, "No ... they can't be that stupid again .. no, no, no ... sigh yup."

Nobody is shocked that these things happen. Some of us are 'shocked' when we see it happen and every indicator is that it is more about executive bonuses than making the company healthy - and nobody stops the madness. So many of us have seen companies crippled by layoffs that come during periods of near record profits - done to deny those laid off employees access to bonuses, and to ensure the cost savings impact the executive bonuses. It often comes off essentially as a scam - Pump the bonuses, the dividends and stock price, then holders sell the product when the crash comes, then rebuy low if they look like the company will recover. We see them release great employees, then loose many more great employees when they're overworked. It isn't shocking because it is a surprise. It is shocking becauise it is ludicrous.

 

[cranberry]

I worked for a venture capitalist firm for 3 years. Deeply buried in my spreadsheets, I was mostly insulated from the reality of the impact, but on one assignment I was told to meet the boss on-site.

I watched as the HR rep handed out pink slips to many of the men on the shop floor. This was a small town in a specialized industry. The employees would like have to travel pretty far to find jobs that required a similar skill set.

I took out my analysis and adjusted the FTE's and calculated a new EBITDA and NPV. My boss was ecstatic. We were able to achieve the numbers that satisfied our financing partners without having to adjust the hurtle rate, product margins, or growth rate assumptions.

This was in stark contrast to the faces of the folks who were let go...

 

[CleverNickName]

It sounds like some people in this thread are insisting the layoffs are no big deal. And it sounds like other people in this thread are insisting the layoffs are a bigger deal than they are.

As usual, I fall somewhere in the middle: I know that layoffs are an abhorrent and shameful business practice, and also a common and predictable business practice. So I am both disappointed and unsurprised by the news.

 

[Ghost2020]

So I am both disappointed and unsurprised by the news.

Yup. That's it in a nutshell.

 

[ART!]

Corporate thinking is the weirdest thing sometimes - why would you lay folks off across the board, including from the one division that's doing really well?

 

[cranberry]

Corporate thinking is the weirdest thing sometimes - why would you lay folks off across the board, including from the one division that's doing really well?

To make the quarter or the year look good.

 

[Remathilis]

Corporate thinking is the weirdest thing sometimes - why would you lay folks off across the board, including from the one division that's doing really well?

It spreads the pain more evenly I suppose.