devtrackers.gg
This meme has always confused me because I'm pretty sure it's a "thing" for every large company ever. There's always people coming and going. That's career advancement 101.
So maybe it's a thing because Jagex has encouraged their employees to have a public face, and as such, when they leave it's also a public matter. And as a result everyone instantly knows the comings and goings of a company.
Then I wonder what Jagex's takeaway is. Don't be as public anymore? No one will know someone leaves if that someone doesn't have a public face. I hope this doesn't result in Jagex going back to the black box of it's previous life with employees never talking to their community.
I think this is the thing. We don't want to change our approach - we want our staff to be as community-facing as possible, because we think it's a really healthy thing to have that level of interaction throughout the company with you all (whether it's a Twitter or Reddit account, or appearing on livestreams, or being at RuneFest).
As you highlight though, it can be a rod for our own back - because the more public-facing you are, the more impact it has when you announce you're taking on a new challenge and seeking pastures new.
I personally think the fact we've had so many staff hit 5, 10, and even 15 years at the company is a real positive (I'm nearly at 6 years myself, which seems crazy). General staff retention in the gaming industry is pretty low - and, of course, it's a shame when people leave - but personal circumstances change, other career opportunities arise, and all manner of other things. Hopefully you can see though that a lot of the staff who do leave do so with having fond memories of the company and (more importantly) working on RuneScape and with you all.
(as a side note, we'll be looking to bring a wider variety of staff onto things like the live streams so you can meet them in 2020 - the likes of Mod Nin, who's working on Smooth Movement, for instance).