New WotC Layoffs?

I have been unable to verify any of this, so consider this no more than a "rumour report". However I'm hearing that layoffs have occurred at WotC this week, and that one of the victims is art director Mark Painter. Again, all rumour at this point.

 

[justinj3x3]

The Roomba IS a cheap and well motivated employee.

Yeah he just needs to get out of that jury duty and produce some product!

 

[TwoSix]

Yeah he just needs to get out of that jury duty and produce some product!

Now, now, it's the coffee machine that's on jury duty.

 

[jgsugden]

Well said! The ones we don't know or like probably deserve it. Their spouses might even already have a job (job-hoarding is despicable!) and their kids won't need educations for the coming service-based-only economy anyway. Once again, you've summed up your position nicely.

When people get on a high horse, they should be careful that it isn't made of straw.

Obviously, anyone losing their job sucks. However, the impact on the community is different when the person that loses the job is someone we know. It is also different if the person is someone that made significant impacts on the products we buy rather than someone that just followed orders. There are a lot of people at WotC doing a great job over the years that lost their jobs and were replaced by someone that also did a wonderful job. There are also people that were lost and their absence is still felt today - I feel the absence of Andy Collins and Steven Schubert (to name the first two that popped into my head) in the 5E world... and I think the product would have been better with their hands in the pot. We've seen a lot of posts about WotC employees losing their jobs. The point was that *we* don't feel all of those losses the same way.

 

[Mistwell]

17 or 18 people?? You would think they could put out a product since the core books and DM screen. Or maybe the conversion guidelines while I'm at it.

Correction. Once I counted the people named in Princes of the Apocalypse, verified on their LinkedIn profiles (as reliable that is) they do still work at WOTC, added them to Morrus' existing list, the list is now up to either 29 or 30 (depending on whether the guy named in this thread was laid off, or not). Of course someone would need to go through Morrus' old list and verify none of those names are now listed as working elsewhere to really nail down the list, though most of his list is easily verified.

 

[Sacrosanct]

I'll never understand what the infatuation is with paying attention to everyone who is working at WotC and having a big brewhaaha every time that changes. Every other company in the planet does the same thing, and you never see anyone care. Only with WoTC it seems.

 

[Mark CMG]

The point was that *we* don't feel all of those losses the same way.

The point is actually two-fold from my perspective, the first being that corporate culture with disposable employees is not a good thing for people or society (IMO) despite it being an expedient way to develop and sell products while the second being that the callousness I see exhibited by some folks regarding the results of the proliferation of that style of business bothers me.

 

[S_Dalsgaard]

The point is actually two-fold from my perspective, the first being that corporate culture with disposable employees is not a good thing for people or society (IMO) despite it being an expedient way to develop and sell products while the second being that the callousness I see exhibited by some folks regarding the results of the proliferation of that style of business bothers me.

Actually it is a good thing (IMHO). Changing your corporate structure (by firing people, hiring people, or restructuring in general) ensures that your business doesn't grow stale. Of course, you hopefully retain the people that are the best qualified, but even then you can't ensure, that they don't find other jobs on their own. It is of course unfortunate when someone loses their job, but it is a part of life and should be taken as an opportunity for change. Nobody wants to stay in a job that is made obsolete.

 

[Steven Winter]

Gotta disagree at least in part, Dalsgaard. I've worked as a full-time employee and as a contractor, for employers that I knew valued me and would do their best to keep me on the payroll and for employers where I knew I was a disposable cog. Now, this is purely anecdotal, but it's based on many conversations with people who've been through the same employment cycles as myself. As an employee -- full-time, part-time, or contract -- you give about the same degree of devotion to the company as the company gives to you. When it's clear that the company views you in the same terms as office furniture and software, you do what's needed to collect your check and not one whit more. You don't mention your best ideas in company meetings, because then they become company property and you get nothing. Instead, you file them away silently for the time when you know you'll be let go and you can pursue them on your own, and the company loses out. The staff filled with disposable contractors that businesses are so in love with right now might be good for the short-term bottom line, but in the long run, I think it portends a terrible future for creativity and productivity in a corporate setting. Maybe it makes financial sense for corporations to let small independents do all the innovating and then buy them up during IPOs, but it creates a workforce within the company that couldn't care less whether the company succeeds or fails, since people get laid off seemingly at random either way.

Steve

 

[Icon_Charlie]

Gotta disagree at least in part, Dalsgaard. I've worked as a full-time employee and as a contractor, for employers that I knew valued me and would do their best to keep me on the payroll and for employers where I knew I was a disposable cog. Now, this is purely anecdotal, but it's based on many conversations with people who've been through the same employment cycles as myself. As an employee -- full-time, part-time, or contract -- you give about the same degree of devotion to the company as the company gives to you. When it's clear that the company views you in the same terms as office furniture and software, you do what's needed to collect your check and not one whit more. You don't mention your best ideas in company meetings, because then they become company property and you get nothing. Instead, you file them away silently for the time when you know you'll be let go and you can pursue them on your own, and the company loses out. The staff filled with disposable contractors that businesses are so in love with right now might be good for the short-term bottom line, but in the long run, I think it portends a terrible future for creativity and productivity in a corporate setting. Maybe it makes financial sense for corporations to let small independents do all the innovating and then buy them up during IPOs, but it creates a workforce within the company that couldn't care less whether the company succeeds or fails, since people get laid off seemingly at random either way.

Steve

I agree with this statement.

My philosophy really comes down to treat people as how you want to be treated. Most businesses that I dealt with have no idea on the dividends and profits on just being nice to others and to the employees.

With my investment partners I have to at times show them the reasons I work this way and show them the numbers why it works with the real estate holdings we have together.

Net 6.5% profit for 24 straight quarters.

Which is why I have a real hard time when hearing large corporations and CEO's making huge profits and then laying off hundreds of employees in order to make the books look good for the shareholders.

There is comic called, "In the Trenches". Good comic but below (called Tales from The Trenches) are people who are/were
working in the gaming industry and they tell their side of the story. If you have time, read from beginning to end.

You will get some insight on how people are treated. And yea I survived being in the trenches.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Look after your people and they look after your business.

That's how it is supposed to work. And being a public company should come with social obligations as part of the price you pay for the whole public company structure where the ownership is, in theory at least, public.

(I have a far more laissez faire approach to the social obligations of private companies: "I can do what I want with my money.")

Anyway, that's departing from the topic of the thread. I hope these rumours prove to be baseless but, knowing how WotC operates, it's only a matter of time before they cull again.