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Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

polygon.com

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Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#61

Post by deadbabe »

wharvle wrote: post #20
maximilianroos wrote: post #12

Getting laid off in December is tough. But it's better than getting laid off in January after coming back to work from holidays, with plans for the year ahead. At least this way, folks can recuperate with their family, and then hit the job market in January. Or do others disagree?

You know how it’s like impossible to get anything done in companies from about Dec 1 through Jan 15th? Because everyone’s taking time off, winding things down before taking time off, or ramping back up after coming back? Now consider what that does to a job search.

You’re not really helping the argument for not firing people in the middle of December. During this end of the year period, a lot of companies are basically paying people for doing little to nothing at all. I’ve closed maybe two tickets.

edit: nooo don’t downvote me I wasn’t saying to fire them

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#62

Post by TheGRS »

I feel like a lot of attention from this is on the WotC side, which is doing very well, bully for them, I consume a lot of the D&D product line. But what's up with the rest of the company doing poorly? They have a huge trove of great IP that's failing. Play-doh and Nerf seem like they're still children's play staples no? Is there a big shift in consumption of action figures I should know about? Or is the story more about issues with inflation/affordability for these types of toys?

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#63

Post by ska »

azinman2 wrote: post #32
ryandrake wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Factory workers also are not going to be getting the kind of severance packages software devs get. We get severance packages?

Most companies do with mass layoffs, yes.

Depending on the jurisdiction, severance packages may be required for mass layoffs.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#64

Post by op00to »

mikeortman wrote: post #14

I have a hunch a lot of companies that layoff in December are also motivated by the bonus structure. Many companies structure their bonus pay around the new year in line with their fiscal calendar, either paying at the beginning of the year or entitling them to the bonus paid out later in the year.

This - I worked at a place that paid bonus quarterly and firings while rare seemed to happen just before the quarter end.

Now we are paid bonus yearly and I see firings in December. I think it does align to expenditures like bonus, for sure.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#65

Post by ska »

hamandcheese wrote: post #25
throwing_away wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Strong disagree. For anyone who makes enough to be getting severance, it's better to have it in the new tax year.

Ignorant question - is severance typically paid lump sum?

Sometimes. So Dec is the worst case, especially if you have a longish period. You end up paying top rates on this year, then suddenly have no income come January.

Of course details vary country to country.

One fairly common thing is you can opt to take it as an lump sum now, or take it as a monthly salary - but with the proviso that if you take a new job you stop getting it. This is often the way benefit extensions work also. Sometimes the monthly option is larger.

So financially you are often better off with the lump sum, but it can be a tax hit.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#66

Post by gpderetta »

okeuro49 wrote: post #21
maximilianroos wrote: post #12

Getting laid off in December is tough. But it's better than getting laid off in January after coming back to work from holidays, with plans for the year ahead. At least this way, folks can recuperate with their family, and then hit the job market in January. Or do others disagree?

If you are not the type of person who can switch off worries, it will cast a shadow over what is supposed to be a happy time. I think Charles Dickens wrote a Christmas themed book on the topic of a heartless businessman, who acted much the same to his employees.

"Magic Universe Beyond: A Christmas Carol" confirmed.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#67

Post by WillPostForFood »

Macha wrote: post #33
no_wizard wrote: post #2

My heart goes out to those affected. Thats very rough. I know this isn't directly related to the article at hand or anything either, but I feel like I'm seeing a real uptick in November / December layoffs. Is it just me or was it really not a thing companies did with such frequency around the holidays? I feel like its as much a shedding of costs as it is a flex of big business trying to show strength because they all…

Video games are a better market than toys for children, sure, but it still doesn't feel like a reliable bet for Hasbro to get into. Particularly the mention of video game licensing rather than development just screams execs amazed at how well that did, but I think they're overestimating how much they can make that repeatable. What with Pathfinder and Divinity games having laid the foundation for a CRPG comeback, Bald…

Hasbro tried the video game business back in the 1990s. They bought Atari assets and name in 1998, and Microprose as well, and became a pretty major player, but it flamed out. Video game development/publishing is a tough business.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#68

Post by ChrisMarshallNY »

teddyh wrote: post #59
lotsofpulp wrote: post #44

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The D&D movie is on Amazon Prime, and is probably the most fun movie I watched this year. I have zero knowledge or interest in D&D.

Warning: There is more than one “D&D Movie”: https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dungeons_%26_Drag... > According to most people, the one from 2023 is the good one.

The first one was ... not so inspiring ... It had some top-shelf actors, but the "acting" was a bit ... over the top, shall we say.

The next two were a bit less inspiring.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#69

Post by bhouston »

oflannabhra wrote: post #28

Hasbro is essentially upside down, with huge losses across all their brands being subsidized by enormous growth from their subsidiary Wizards of the Coast. Even with that growth, they are significantly down. There was a big investor push recently (led by Alta Fox) to get Hasbro to spin WotC out into an independent company [0], which failed. The big concern being that forcing growth on those properties (Magic: the Gat…

> toy market will ever recover,

Also people are having less kids these days -- for better or worse (I think worse) -- so people have less need for toys. Also kids love just paying video games on tablets and PCs, so also less need for physical toys.

Re: Hasbro lays off nearly 20% of its workers

#70

Post by faitswulff »

Keyframe wrote: post #43
oflannabhra wrote: post #28

Hasbro is essentially upside down, with huge losses across all their brands being subsidized by enormous growth from their subsidiary Wizards of the Coast. Even with that growth, they are significantly down. There was a big investor push recently (led by Alta Fox) to get Hasbro to spin WotC out into an independent company [0], which failed. The big concern being that forcing growth on those properties (Magic: the Gat…

Eons ago, when I was in TV/movies business, I spoke with a prominent Forgotten Realms book author (if not _the_ author) about a certain book series he wrote that I thought it would make a fantastic TV series (in a world before netflix had their own production) and he nodded in agreement. I said let's make it it happen, let's warm up parties on both ends (I'm on production side, he would be on property side).. basical…

Was it R.A. Salvatore? I would love to watch Drizzt Do'Urden on the big screen.
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