RE: Interesting Article... fewest jobs lost in Tech Writing

[Goober <techcommgoober -at- yahoo -dot- com>]

> I had a similar experience.  When I started with my
> previous employer, the
> doc department had eight writers, a translator, and
> a manager.  Through
> layoffs and attrition, the department was reduced to
> 2 writers, then finally
> eliminated altogether so that, "more resources could
> be spent on sales and marketing."
> 
> I've talked with some who say this is a growing (and
> unfortunate) trend, and
> others who say it depends largely on how the upper
> management views documentation.

It's not a growing trend. This is a circular pattern.
We saw it in the 1980's, saw the inverse in the
1990's, and are seeing it again now. 

As much as we'd love it to be otherwise, most
companies do not include documentation in the
definition of "product". There's "product", and then
there's "support". Immediate support is documentation.
Other support includes training, call centers, and
other such stuff. Given that training and tech support
can provide income per request, and documentation
doesn't, well, do the immediate math.

Now, I know we can argue the long-term benefits of
documentation, and its value TO training and help
desk, but in the end, a handful of people banging away
at printed pages or online help is seen as overhead
for some reason or another.

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