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Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

kotaku.com

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Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#101

Post by ericdykstra »

zemo wrote: post #58
bb88 wrote: post #12

If you think about employment as a business transaction, then you should insist on "Cash Up Front", e.g. signing bonus, higher salary, or immediate stock ownership to offset your personal risk. Joining a company is more of a risk to you as an employee than it is to them in hiring you. Basically it comes down to asking for "Cash Up Front". Expecting a cash settlement on the backend of a failed business transaction is…

game industry workers don't have the same bargaining power that people in other industries have. > "Cash Up Front" ... or immediate stock ownership to offset your personal risk so a grant with no vesting schedule? please enlighten us as to what employers are actually giving out such favorable deals.

I don't mean to be callous, but the game industry is one where much of the benefit comes from the fact that one gets to work on games as opposed to B2B SAAS apps or other banal businesses. In exchange for getting to work on games, you are taking a lower salary, higher competition, and much less stable working environment.

It's very similar to sports; there are many more people who want to work in sports than there are jobs available, so the ones that do end up with jobs working for a team are overworked and underpaid despite being in the top single-digit percentile of applicants. I imagine the same is true for other entertainment industries, but I don't know enough about them to comment.

There are, of course, people in these industries who do have bargaining power, but it's a very small minority of those with outstanding reputations.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#102

Post by techntoke »

c3534l wrote: post #70
ta987654321 wrote: post #19

This studio closure hits a little close to me, since I know a few former employees: - They really did not see a full studio closure coming so suddenly. Yes, they were aware that they were struggling, but the 25% staff reduction was supposed to keep the studio sustainable. - They were in the planning stages for an original IP, their new leadership realized too late that expensive IP licenses were unsustainable. - Thei…

There were people who moved to accept a job at that company a few months ago who got fired. Imagine uprooting your entire life, moving across country for your dream job, for the sole purpose that management can keep up appearances that they're a functioning company so people won't jump ship. The company was scummy and ran into the ground because of incompetence.

This is why I never relocate for jobs, unless they are going to include enough in the package or severance to survive for a few months if the job doesn't work out. I can't believe the sheer number of recruiters that ask me weekly to relocate for contract jobs on my dime. I'm thinking a lot of people fall for this or don't have a family, and are willing to take the risk. I imagine a lot of people get stuck in crappy jobs this way.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#103

Post by closeparen »

analog31 wrote: post #13
vcanales wrote: post #8

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's really interesting to read this perspective on what severance is in the US, because in my country it definitely is just a right everyone has so that they can land on their feet.

In the US, we have unemployment compensation insurance for that purpose. I believe you can collect unemployment even if the employer is insolvent, because it's pre-paid by the employer, and comes out of a collective fund. As I understand it, a severance usually involves the employee signing some sort of agreement.

Unemployment insurance in California maxes out at $450/week, pre-tax. It can help you draw down your savings more slowly, but by itself is not even enough to make rent. The numbers may have made sense before the latest bout of housing price and wage inflation, but they don't anymore.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#104

Post by toomuchtodo »

sonnyblarney wrote: post #96
toomuchtodo wrote: post #94

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Better it be required by law and provided by the government than you hoping you'll get severance and being beholden to a company's "generosity", and the company include the additional tax payments as cost of doing business (same as the other employment taxes they're required to pay).

The issue is severance during company bankruptcy. Nobody ever expects companies to be 'generous' that's not a thing - the issues are in contracts like anything else.

Severance is never guaranteed though, bankruptcy or otherwise. If a company is going bankrupt, of course they're not going to have the funds to pay severance when closing up shop. Unless I'm misunderstanding the point (and the quotations around generosity were intended to convey that in bankruptcy, that doesn't exist).

Regardless, I suppose the end result should be to make unemployment kick in faster so you don't need an insolvent company to provide a severance they don't have the funds to provide.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#106

Post by caro_douglos »

Aeolun wrote: post #80
dogma1138 wrote: post #52

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Borderlands was a betrayal simulator i didn’t really played Guardians of the Galaxy. GoT was essentially the same as TWD. However the gameplay was essentially identical across all of them a semi interactive cut scene that is broken by QTEs which don’t have a major impact on the overall story arc they at best just shift a few characters around the events still unfold as they are. Expensive licenses and a repetitive “p…

I don’t know where you work, but I can count on one finger the places where I actually knew the companies financial situation. You can try to guess based on sales and nr of employees, but it’s hardly an exact science.

If you're not a founder or investor it's not worth worrying about since there's little you can legally do to remedy/fix the situation...the question is at what point as an employee do you become complacent enough to see a lot of strange behavior and decide not to leave.

IMO we give a lot of credit to these large companies and trust them to do right by us when they fire us/lay us off/we leave. I feel bad for all the people who worked at TTG that had no savings and no idea that this could happen. This certainly has the ability to make modern day slaves out of those that were blindsided by possible medical expenses, debt, and/or the struggle to find a new gig.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#107

Post by dleslie »

elvirs wrote: post #105

"One employee, a source told Kotaku, had been working until 3 AM the night before" Moral of the story, never work for any company until 3am.

_Never_ work longer hours than you would be willing to be paid hourly for given your salary. _Never_.

I've been interviewed at companies where it was evident from my questions that I would make more working half time at my current employer than the hours typically worked at the prospective employer.

Really, I don't see why overtime is so rare in our industry. Not having it is more often an excuse to over utilize and under budget than to deal with extreme situations.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#108

Post by sonnyblarney »

toomuchtodo wrote: post #104
sonnyblarney wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The issue is severance during company bankruptcy. Nobody ever expects companies to be 'generous' that's not a thing - the issues are in contracts like anything else.

Severance is never guaranteed though, bankruptcy or otherwise. If a company is going bankrupt, of course they're not going to have the funds to pay severance when closing up shop. Unless I'm misunderstanding the point (and the quotations around generosity were intended to convey that in bankruptcy, that doesn't exist). Regardless, I suppose the end result should be to make unemployment kick in faster so you don't nee…

Severance can be put in a contract like anything else, so it's as 'guaranteed' as any other obligation so long as the company can pay for it.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#109

Post by dleslie »

ta987654321 wrote: post #19

This studio closure hits a little close to me, since I know a few former employees: - They really did not see a full studio closure coming so suddenly. Yes, they were aware that they were struggling, but the 25% staff reduction was supposed to keep the studio sustainable. - They were in the planning stages for an original IP, their new leadership realized too late that expensive IP licenses were unsustainable. - Thei…

I've been in game Dev for a while now, and your points are screaming that there's a forthcoming closure.

- Cutting a quarter of staff is a Hail Mary unless it's preceded and accompanied by a core strategy pivot, generally.

- Planning new and original IP is typical busy work for a studio that specializes in licensed games. Hiring is hard, expensive and slow; keeping the team busy is standard when looking for another license

- Self-evident much?

- Moving offices is a great way to save operation expenses when the lease is up, if you're desperate.

- Everyone blames management, but often it's the failure to find sufficient revenue is to blame _first_. Their games just weren't selling that well.

Re: Telltale Employees Left Stunned by Company Closure, No Severance

#110

Post by grigjd3 »

cloakandswagger wrote: post #10
lquist wrote: post #9

Is severance normal at a startup or a game studio? I would think first priority would be contractual obligations (payroll, contractual severance, vendors, etc.) and then only then severance.

I don't think severance is normal or expected of any business teetering on insolvency.

Severance is "keep your mouth shut" money. If the company is tanking, there's no reason for it.
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