Yeah, now that WoW has entered it's f2p (mostly) stage, I can imagine that they're focusing on other areas of business. I'm not entirely surprised, sure, they're rich, but they can't just pay people to do nothing.
Blizzard Lays Off 600
- Thread starter Andy Chalk
- Start date
Hopefully they fired everyone in marketing. Not that I hate Blizzard's marketing specifically, I just hate all people who work in marketing. Yes, that includes you, slimy marketing people wot are reading this! You are scum who lie for a living!
I want to believe there's a good reason for the lay offs but there's a part of me that just feels sad as Blizzard absorbs more and more of Activision's business management decisions and nothing good about Blizzard rubs off unto Activision. It's like watching an accident happen in super super slow motion.
Where is this F2P WoW? I'd love to know as you may have just saved me £8 a month!ResonanceSD said:
Yeah it's not great they're laying off people, but we don't exactly live in the most economically stable time at the moment, it's probably got something to do with the availability of capital and where the company is investing that which it can borrow. It's also possible that with the growth of WoW Blizzard simply took on a large number of people more than it really needed as they suddenly found themselves with a large amount of surplus income. Still, must be horrible for those losing their jobs.
Blizzard makes one of the biggest games ever, business starts falling off some (comparatively speaking, don't send me numbers of how they're still making millions) and they have to fire people, and all of a sudden they're this evil empire. I don't get it.
This is very likely to be a result of there being too many people doing the same job. It happens ALL THE TIME in corporations. If you're all telling me that you would cut your own pay in order to keep employees that aren't essential to company success then I'm calling you a liar. I also love how people are assuming the executives are going to pocket the salaries of the people they're letting go. They may be setting up packages to better take care of the employees they're keeping. They may be rerouting some of the resources to other areas of the company. Unless you know the details behind it, you have know way of knowing that Blizzard is made up of money-grubbing bastards.
This is business. Business is often not kind to people. Yes it sucks that 600 people got laid off. I feel badly for them. Jobs are hard to come by. But that is simply how the world works people.
And Guy Jackson, I hope you're kidding.
This is very likely to be a result of there being too many people doing the same job. It happens ALL THE TIME in corporations. If you're all telling me that you would cut your own pay in order to keep employees that aren't essential to company success then I'm calling you a liar. I also love how people are assuming the executives are going to pocket the salaries of the people they're letting go. They may be setting up packages to better take care of the employees they're keeping. They may be rerouting some of the resources to other areas of the company. Unless you know the details behind it, you have know way of knowing that Blizzard is made up of money-grubbing bastards.
This is business. Business is often not kind to people. Yes it sucks that 600 people got laid off. I feel badly for them. Jobs are hard to come by. But that is simply how the world works people.
And Guy Jackson, I hope you're kidding.
Bastards? What're you talking about? Blizzard are the good guys! They're the paragon of the industry. The company that stands up for the little guys. Stands up for the community.The_root_of_all_evil said:
Or so I've been told. I've been lambasted by quite a few people on this forum for insinuating that Blizzard wasn't. For implying that most of their current actions and motives have been pure greed-based, sleazy business practices.
But then, someone calls me out on my statements and says I just hate Blizzard and will say anything to make them look bad. Like me pointing out that there was no way in hell Blizzard started the suit against Valve over the name Dota for purely altruistic motives. Motives, as the other posters and Blizzard indicated, that were meant to be in the best interest of the modding community.
Hmmm. I'm not sure what to make of this. I'm sure there are going to be plenty of people that interpret this as "WoW IS DYING OMG".
Of course with business talk that impenetrable it could mean anything. Man I wish I was fluent in speaking without actually saying anything.
Of course with business talk that impenetrable it could mean anything. Man I wish I was fluent in speaking without actually saying anything.
And a mean part of me says: "Attention, please; will everyone who thought a 71-year-old martial artist/actor as spokesperson would help restore flagging WoW subscriptions, please come to a special meeting in conference room A..."
Part of me wants to blame Activision, of course, but that's reflex by now.
It does seem strange that with at least two big titles on the way, Blizzard would be shedding staff now. One would think that their profit forecasts would be looking pretty rosy. It may just be that no one really contemplated what a downturn in WoW profits would mean, and they allowed themselves to grow bigger than was efficient because of those mistaken expectations.
Still, it's a crummy time to lose your job in any case, and I wish those employees luck.
Part of me wants to blame Activision, of course, but that's reflex by now.
It does seem strange that with at least two big titles on the way, Blizzard would be shedding staff now. One would think that their profit forecasts would be looking pretty rosy. It may just be that no one really contemplated what a downturn in WoW profits would mean, and they allowed themselves to grow bigger than was efficient because of those mistaken expectations.
Still, it's a crummy time to lose your job in any case, and I wish those employees luck.
Reviewed our needs is basic business speech. It means that the company realized it didn't need as many workers as it has.rembrandtqeinstein said:
You basically need to think about the marginal value each worker adds. This value is constantly shifting in every company. When you have too many people, in this case 600 too many, you can't just keep paying them and losing money.
Morally it may seem bad to lay these people off, but if you keep them you're pouring millions down the drain each year which could end a company and leave everyone out of a job.
Its unfortunate that this site has so many people who will jump onto the Blizzard is evil bandwagon over a simple business fluctuation. "why don't they just make the executives get pay cuts?" Well I can see 3 pretty good reasons for this. 1 that would be like getting a blood injection every month because you have an open wound that won't heal. You're not fixing the problem just finding a way to ignore it. 2 executive wages in almost every business are competitive to the industry rates. Pay them less and they leave and your company goes under. Not many companies overpay their executives, since that would be stupid for the stockholders/owners. 3 a pay cut for a few individuals wouldn't come close to offsetting 600 jobs.
Damn I thought of this so fast, glad I found this. Ohh ya by the way, your cut.
I'm sorry for everyone that didn't make the cut. But thats business. If your not needed, your probably gona get cut.
I wish them luck in finding new work.
I'm sorry for everyone that didn't make the cut. But thats business. If your not needed, your probably gona get cut.
I wish them luck in finding new work.
So if it isn't their development guys, are they laying off their cinematics team? Because that would be awful, those guys are some of the best I've ever seen.
Almost every company overpays its executives. Executive wages might be competitive to the industry rates, but the industry rates are too high. They have ALWAYS been too high.godofallu said:
You can say that you have to consider the "marginal value each worker adds" or whatever but Blizzard's one of the companies at the top of the games industry, they're not exactly going broke. And those cuts couldn't have possibly made from any other place?
I mean, these are people with lives and maybe families to support, and some executive is giving them the axe because of some numbers on a piece of paper.
I did a quick search on Mike Morhaime and found that his total. compensation for 2010 was $16,544,154.00. Figure is broken down here:
http://people.forbes.com/profile/michael-morhaime/119128
I don't know if that adds context to the issue, but honestly... how can you even look at that number without feeling angry?
My apologizes to the Blizzard staff, as they are all talented people and, while I may not be a fan of their games, I understand and appreciate all of the work that went into them.
Cheers for their future endeavors, and to the future success of Blizzard.
Cheers for their future endeavors, and to the future success of Blizzard.
good job blizz... welcome to your new status as "part of the problem"!
man... I wish they would penalize all these companies who lay off their staff whenever profits drop down too low that the bosses don't get their bonuses... a bad day for everyone.
man... I wish they would penalize all these companies who lay off their staff whenever profits drop down too low that the bosses don't get their bonuses... a bad day for everyone.