Todd Lockwood Laid Off By WOTC! (thread necromancy)

[Maerdwyn]

You are probably right about equipment and materials, at least in the art industry - it can destroy people in other industries - but a freelancer does have very significant costs that an employee doesn't have. A freelancer, for example has to cover that portion of the Social Security tax and income tax which an employer would otherwise pay - basically, look at the deductions from the gross pay of a salaried employee's paycheck. A freelancer's taxes owed on the same gross are basically doubled. A freelancer must also pay out of pocket for benefits that were never seen on his paycheck (benefits like health care, vacation pay, etc).

These, of course, vary by employer, but even basic employee benefits, such as health care, are significant costs even when a new freelancer suddenly need to pay for his own, and does not have the benefit of buying in bulk like his employer did. (Though there are ways to partially get around this - group purchasing plans and the like, but the cost is still generally more than a corporation pays per individual, because of management fees, etc.)

Doesn't mean that one can't succeed as a freelancer, of course (I'm one in a different industry), just that an unexpected and forced shift is very disruptive and has significant costs associated with it that really hurt until enough new business is generated to cover the work lost and then some.

 

[alsih2o]

as a full-time artist i suppose it could be said that i am a freelancer of sorts.

my wife (who does all my books) recently did the math and figures i pay about 87 cents on every dollar in taxes, supplies, travel and fees.

freelancing can bite the big one.

but then again, it is jut after 1 in the afternoon, and i am hear posting this with no fear of getting caught by anyone

 

[diaglo]

Well, that kind of depends on the company, doesn't it? Making sweeping generalizations about the cost of benefits and the overhead burden rate assigned to each employee isn't likely to win you any arguments. And its a bit misleading to say that suddenly Lockwood has to pay for his pencils, lighting, computer, etc. because 1) he probably has all that stuff at home anyway -- Lockwood has freelanced even with the steady WotC job, so his additional expenses will be minimal to non-existant, and 2) he pays what he uses, not some generic overhead that is allocated to him by accounting. The costs of doing this yourself are much lower. You're making it sound like picking up a few pencils and having the lights turned on a few more hours a day is going to completely stiff freelancers relative to their pay. That just isn't so.

was wondering if you had more to add to this 7 year old topic.

digging back to 2002 i see that the Xmas firings were earlier but gave a decent severence package so the group still had work thru until the new year.

 

[Dragonhelm]

was wondering if you had more to add to this 7 year old topic.

digging back to 2002 i see that the Xmas firings were earlier but gave a decent severence package so the group still had work thru until the new year.

Dear God, man, you scared me to death with this thread necromancy.

It doesn't help that I'm not firing on all cylinders today due to having to wake up at 5am. I had actually forgotten about this.

 

[Dannager]

I'm loving the doomsaying going on in this old thread, seven years ago. "WotC is definitely done with D&D," "They're shooting themselves in the foot!", etc.

Apparently everything old is new again.

 

[Herschel]

*eh, not worth it at this point*

 

[Romtos]

I'm loving the doomsaying going on in this old thread, seven years ago. "WotC is definitely done with D&D," "They're shooting themselves in the foot!", etc.

Apparently everything old is new again.

It took me some time to notice this thread was so old. It's typical how similar the talks are. It was only when someone mentioned the campaign setting competition with 11k+ entries that I thought: "wut? Eberron?"

 

[ki11erDM]

It took me some time to notice this thread was so old. It's typical how similar the talks are. It was only when someone mentioned the campaign setting competition with 11k+ entries that I thought: "wut? Eberron?"

heheheh thats about when i noticed the dates : )

 

[Thunderfoot]

I wonder if there is anything safe at WotC?

Seven years of holiday let-gos, (due to fiscal year apparently) but if they are constantly letting people go, are they then turning around and hiring new folks at a later date?

 

[Romtos]

I wonder if there is anything safe at WotC?

Seven years of holiday let-gos, (due to fiscal year apparently) but if they are constantly letting people go, are they then turning around and hiring new folks at a later date?

Evil voices in the shadows spoke they can hire two newbies for each lay-off. Then again, who knows. They might rely more on freelancers. Earlier in this thread (some 7 year old post) also mentioned they might do that with Lockwood.

Did this actually happen? Do they hire artists on a project basis?