LaTia Jacquise let go from Wizards of the Coast

D&D Community Manager LaTia Jacquise announced that she had been laid off from Wizards of the Coast after nearly four years as acting as Dungeons & Dragons’ community manager. Jacquise was an important part of D&D’s marketing department, with her posts and announcements appearing on numerous areas where D&D fans congregated, including here on EN World. She was also one of the main handlers for the advisory council that provided a community voice to various D&D plans. She is also a TTRPG designer, having co-authored Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep. She also was a cast member of Rivals of Waterdeep, having participated in that officially sanctioned D&D Actual Play for over 8 seasons. On a personal level, I’ve interacted with Jacquise numerous times over the years and always found her to be a pleasure and a professional to work with.

It’s unclear at this time whether Jacquise is the only layoff at Wizards of the Coast or if there is a wider round of cuts coming from the company. Wizards, in recent months, has been on a hiring spree. However, the CEO of Wizards of the Coast John Hight resigned and a wide search is ongoing for his replacement.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Noooooooo. She was so good at her job!

 

[popuman]

Darn shame. I wish her the best.

 

[chuckdee]

This feels utterly random, as far as I know she did nothing wrong, sometimes it honestly feels like someone just pulled a name out of a hat.

I think the law should require an explanation for why the bosses feel laying a person off is justified and not just random cruelty.

I mean are they not going to need a community manager going forward? Or are they going to combined the role with some other community manager for a different set of products like MtG?

Most states are at-will. And as the recent victim of a layoff, i know how devastating it is, but they do consolidate based on the most opaque of reasons, and sometimes because of future moves they're planning on taking. I just hope she finds work somewhere that appreciates her talents as an individual rather than a replaceable widget.

 

[chuckdee]

Terrible news.

It makes sense. I was at a publishing conference last week where the Publishing Director of one of the major global medical journals was told by a publishing exec to outsource their employees so that they can pay their senior team more.

Yeah i was let go because they're moving their positions to 'lower cost centers', i.e. India and other Asian countries, and leveraging AI to make up for the gap.

 

[chuckdee]

To all y'all:

I hope they at least took care of you with a good package!

 

[MGibster]

This feels utterly random, as far as I know she did nothing wrong, sometimes it honestly feels like someone just pulled a name out of a hat.

Most of us are looking at it from the outside and really don't have the inside scoop on WotC's strategy so far as staffing is concerned. Layoffs are usually planned well in advanced.

I think the law should require an explanation for why the bosses feel laying a person off is justified and not just random cruelty.

The most common reasons for laying off an employee is to save on labor costs, when there's a restructure to the organization, or there's a change in the business environment. Unless they're a staffing agency, employers are not in the business of employing people, and when a company's business needs change sometimes changes to labor are also necessary.

Not that any of this is comforting to someone when they're laid off. It's a sobering thought that no matter how good you are at your job you're still at risk of losing it due to situations completely beyond your control.

 

[FitzTheRuke]

Not that any of this is comforting to someone when they're laid off. It's a sobering thought that no matter how good you are at your job you're still at risk of losing it due to situations completely beyond your control.

There's something fundamentally wrong with that.

 

[Doc_Klueless]

Well, dang. I guess I really am done with D&D via WotC.

 

[chuckdee]

There's something fundamentally wrong with that.

Always remember a business is going to use you as long as you're useful to their aims. You should act accordingly. Many people feel a lack of loyalty for looking out for themselves above the business. Thats the way they want you to feel, when they feel no loyalty to you. Empathy perhaps, and that's seen in the package. But their loyalty is to the bottom line.

 

[Burnside]

That's a shame. She was really patient, responsive, and seemingly omnipresent in that role. That can be a really thankless job and she did it really gracefully.