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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

#191

Post by bb88 »

pcwalton wrote: post #89
bb88 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

So in a world where there's a glut of labor, you're absolutely right. We, however, are not in a glut of labor for software engineers and game designers. And besides, if you explained to the employer the risks you forsee in joining their company, they will most likely understand that reason for asking for a higher salary than the norm.

There absolutely is far more labor than positions available for game designers. Same for game programmers, many of whom have education and background so specific to games that they are effectively unemployable outside that industry. There are a bunch of schools that train hundreds of students on nothing but how to build high-level game logic in Unity. Almost everyone directly involved in production of game titles (i.…

To some extent, you're right. Point taken, there is a glut of game engineers. However, your comment about people being virtually unemployable outside the game industry rings hollow.

In the course of my career, there have been many people from a variety of backgrounds that became full fledged software engineers. One was a truck driver who became a top Java coder at the company I used to work for.

And the game engineer has a step up on that guy, since he actually understands how to code. He just needs to understand the way the web works.

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

#192

Post by delinka »

pandaman wrote: post #169
delinka wrote: post #163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In my case, my company "self-insures" but they hire processors (Bluecross, CIGNA, etc) to handle the claims. I doubt that any employer is processing all claims themselves directly. I would have to do the research, but it seems sensible to me that the processor would require some amount of money in escrow (or some other insurance policy) to cover such an event.

Most companies do and thus, most people believe they have a policy from the processor, not their company. Also many companies hire processors for payroll too (ADP and the likes). Does it seem sensible to you that in this case the payroll processor would require some amount of money in escrow to cover severance, PTO, California's WARN etc in case of bankruptcy?

Similar to people thinking they have a policy from the processor rather than their employer, health providers are completely unaware that my employer pays the bills. If the providers don't get paid according to the contract, they'll go after the processor. The processor wants a buffer, insists on escrow or something.

As employees, people are seldom under the delusion that they work for, e.g., ADP. My last company paid me through a processor. My direct deposits showed as coming from the processor. To any bank, it looked as if I was employed by the processor, but the employees knew who the employer was. Should the employer suddenly cease to exist and owe employees anything, employees will go after the employer, not ADP.

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

#193

Post by pandaman »

delinka wrote: post #192
pandaman wrote: post #169

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most companies do and thus, most people believe they have a policy from the processor, not their company. Also many companies hire processors for payroll too (ADP and the likes). Does it seem sensible to you that in this case the payroll processor would require some amount of money in escrow to cover severance, PTO, California's WARN etc in case of bankruptcy?

Similar to people thinking they have a policy from the processor rather than their employer, health providers are completely unaware that my employer pays the bills. If the providers don't get paid according to the contract, they'll go after the processor. The processor wants a buffer, insists on escrow or something. As employees, people are seldom under the delusion that they work for, e.g., ADP. My last company pai…

> If the providers don't get paid according to the contract, they'll go after the processor.

No, not really. Do a search of "insurance claim denied" and see who is on the hook. Even in the case when the processor simply decides not to pay.

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

#194

Post by delinka »

pandaman wrote: post #193
delinka wrote: post #192

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Similar to people thinking they have a policy from the processor rather than their employer, health providers are completely unaware that my employer pays the bills. If the providers don't get paid according to the contract, they'll go after the processor. The processor wants a buffer, insists on escrow or something. As employees, people are seldom under the delusion that they work for, e.g., ADP. My last company pai…

> If the providers don't get paid according to the contract, they'll go after the processor. No, not really. Do a search of "insurance claim denied" and see who is on the hook. Even in the case when the processor simply decides not to pay.

“...according to the contract” is the operative phrase there.

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

#195

Post by pandaman »

delinka wrote: post #194
pandaman wrote: post #193

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> If the providers don't get paid according to the contract, they'll go after the processor. No, not really. Do a search of "insurance claim denied" and see who is on the hook. Even in the case when the processor simply decides not to pay.

“...according to the contract” is the operative phrase there.

I am not sure what you mean here. There is no contract, which turns an insurance administrator to an insurance under-signer.

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

#196

Post by reboog711 »

laputan_machine wrote: post #156
reboog711 wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We share different views of the world... First, Infocom was arguably supplanted by Sierra and other graphical games. They died during an oncoming boom. Sierra's reign [and LucasArts earlier titles] in the late 80's to mid-to-late 90s were very much the golden age of adventure games. Second, LucasArts went on for about 15 years after they stopped creating / releasing adventure games. Their last Adventure game was Grim…

Wadjet Eye, for me, have to make some of the best adventure games I have ever played. Heartily recommend Technobabylon and Gemini Rue.

I'm a huge Blackwell fan. I think they categorize their games as "Urban Fantasy".

Unavowed is sitting in my review queue...

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

#197

Post by closeparen »

nradov wrote: post #117
closeparen wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

There are still places in California where it's possible to rent for <$1800/mo.

You pay rent with after-tax money. No way are you renting for $900.
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