Dreamworks Layoffs
polycounter lvl 10
I just read/heard up to 350 layoffs at Dreamworks, can we start fixing this industry now please?
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeffrey-katzenberg-dreamworks-animations-very-424699
http://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/jeffrey-katzenberg-dreamworks-animations-very-424699
Replies
I don't really know enough overall to speak anything as truth, but man it sure feels messed up heh.
This is really sad though, hope everyone lands on their feet
Seriously, why dont we?
Damn this news sucks, Dreamworks... no one is safe It seems.
Best of luck everyone who got laid off, your amongst the 10+million others.
Rant:
All of this and the mindset that they have to keep getting more profit and are not willing to take a loss or two, I have a set number in my head of what I'd need to survive obviously in some of these greedy people that number is infinite. I'd love to see them take it with them when they pass on... I don't see the point of obtaining so much wealth that you can't even spend It. I feel like they are like, "hey look at my number, what's your number now?". Aww you got a higher number than I do I know how to fix that, dials, hey lay off some people I need to get back into the lead with my friends/competition over here.
I didn't know Activision was laying folks off either, including at Treyarch. I guess making a billion dollars in a week is still bad for a game dev company.
It's like no one gives a shit about talent anymore.
Especially in games we still have a lot to learn and we can start right where we are. There's still so many studios where people complain about non existing pipelines, about random management, about missing task tracking, about missing asset tracking, about bad task scheduling. Those places deserve to go under if they cannot improve. I won't even talk from outright artist abusing places like Team Bondy.
That's the only way we can improve. We need to learn from our mistakes, throw away the crap and start over and do it right! Just doctoring on a broken company and keeping the corpse alive with subsidies and by chasing tax breaks doesn't help us as industry in the long run.
As artist my choice was to adapt. I believe that labour with very limited artistic freedom (such as modeling realistic assets from concepts) will keep moving to wherever it's cheap and wherever there's talent (China, Vietnam, or the next tax-break-heaven). The sooner people accept this the better because on an individual basis we cannot fight globalization. The textile workers who worked decades ago in the US and Great Britain, who were also better organized than us, experienced this too.
Back in that time being a textile worker was a proper job, but today nobody in the West would want to be one, nor would they find a job even if they wanted to. I think in the long run this may also apply to grunt work in our industry. If you're a grunt now, learn, specialize, become better or get additional skills. And be prepared to move.
I don't think that it is realistic - even if you love your job and even if you fight the system via a union - to expect to find work at the grunt level until you reach retirement age. It's like PS2 artists thinking they don't have to adapt, but times change.
but you're missing the bigger picture. We are core parts of the business, so when profits are up thanks to a huge part by us, do you think it's right to be forced to work additional hours, at less pay, so that higher ups can take 50x bigger bonuses than any other country and report to shareholders they are more profitable than ever, all at our expensive?
It's a much bigger problem than the games or vfx industry, and from what I am aware it usually comes from being a publicly traded company that needs to show green every shareholder meeting at whatever the cost, plus a healthy dosage of being a greedy douche that values his own bank account number versus the lives and health of those that made his wealth (and those new 'record profits') possible.
basically, if you're willing to fire people and jeopardize your employees lives when they have been doing exceptional work, all to impress shareholders or bolster your bank account, you're an ass hole.
unfortunately there's also a lot more factors at play in regards to outsourcing over seas and whatnot, but ffffff, had to do a mini-rant myself there. Apologies.
This stuff sucks, but there isn't really anything to be done about it. The industry is going through some changes right now. We simply have to adapt.
My advice now?
Learn Mandarin.
If you want to be competitive in the next 3-4 years, learn Vietnamese.
We outsourcers have an interest that our clients stay healthy and competitive. Wouldn't cut off the hand that feeds us. And at least in my company we have no desire to compete with clients in actually making games. There will always be need for artists on their side too for integration, feedback, art direction, additional artwork, pipeline-dev, coding, etc. Plus our clients still have much more experience in certain areas. Industry vets are much rarer in countries like China; but there's lots and lots of raw talent coming from art schools.
And when it comes to AAA outsourcers that can easily provide 50 - 100 people working on your next Ubi/EA blockbuster then there's only very few studios worldwide (basically in China, Taiwan, Japan, US, EU) who provide acceptable quality. Many of the really cheap chinese shops are still in the "barrels-crates-and-mobile" stage or they deal will very small batches of assets. It's the kind of studios which randomly spam forums like polycount, tech-artists.org or on linkedin to advertise their services.
People are afraid to take risks today because you can lose everything if your risk goes tits up and so the same old same old continues regardless. My personal view is that science is our only way forward, solutions will come from scientific advancements but we are going to come very close to human extinction before these advancements arrive. The scientific community are aware of this so you can imagine the pressure they are under, the governments across the globe are cowards pure and simple.
Good luck to all the people at Dreamworks. I am tired of wishing people well who are now redundant because of a system that is failing us all miserably.
In order for a strike to be effective you need to be in a position that can't be outsourced or replaced with scabs. You need to be in a position where your work is the bargaining chip and without it, the work machine grinds to a halt. In most cases for that to work, you also need a majority. That is why unions were effective back in the day. They promoted solidarity to the workers towards a common goal. Hard to open a factory or construct a building when your laborers won't come in and there is no one to replace them.
And that's the catch isn't it. Our market is over saturated with talent. If you quit your job there are hundreds if not thousands of people who are hungry to snatch it up. If you go on strike, well most of us probably work in "right to work" states and we can just be fired. "Oh, you wanna strike? Well, here's a box with your stuff in it, we've already found your replacement." There is no organization for solidarity and there probably won't be one. With the saturation how do you get the guy who has been out of work for months since his contract ended to stand beside you when he's next in line for a job? How would you handle outsource companies being on board?
I'm not disagreeing that there really needs to be a change but with the level of saturation and the plethora of game and visual arts schools pumping people into the field...well...good luck with that.
You are right that computer games employees don't have a union.
However the dreamworks film division, as mentioned in the article, are covered by TAG (http://animationguild.org/) or IATSE (http://www.iatse-intl.org/)
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Since a strike was mentioned, if there were to be a strike it would have to be ideal in that everyone participated to send a message. I highly doubt entire teams would be replaced simply as a matter of principle. But who knows, thats why I never said we should strike.
There can be more effective mature methods to handle this, quality control or petitions. Its always easier to want to hold some exec accountable, but unless youre holding their paycheck in front of everyone its near impossible to change it. A reform needs to happen in some manner that prevents this industry from collapsing upon itself and simply adapting to these problems isnt a long term solution.
Then you're ahead of a lot of people because it IS the future of this industry.
Unlike other industries, we don't need people to work in studio all the time. So why pay salary and benefits when you can just outsource/contract that position out?
This is why a union won't work for us. Local workers don't want to work? Ok, there are other countries that will bend over backwards for work. The internet and globalization has made this the reality. Embrace it or go home.
It's shitty, but that's how it is.
edit: I guess if entire teams were outsourced that could be a possibility, but that sounds alot like the current 3rd party model we have now.
The industry goes through cycles.
All the people getting laid off will form teams and make smaller / indie games. Then they will grow and grow, then the cycle will repeat.
The nature of the industry is leaning towards strong core teams with contractors or outsource houses. This keeps the budgets down. It's better to contract people or outsource so you don't have to lay off your team at the end of projects. Building a large team and having to lay them off at the end of the project doesn't help build teams either.
A union could help other ways - job placement, layoff recovery, networking etc. etc. - but don't expect it to grant you a great deal more security.
This is a rapidly shifting industry - probably more subject to change due to tech advancement and market changes than any other (that i can think of) and it's going to continue to be so.
If you really want to escape the threat of a layoff then make your own trail. outsource, start a studio, make freaking HTML 5 games if you have to... but if you work for (EA, Activision, etc) expect a decent measure of axe threats. It's a trade off that everybody should be aware of when they take the job.
I am all for a union - I think it could be incredibly helpful in what is largely a project based industry (game released - you probably need a new job) - but it would only do harm if it kept companies from shedding employees they're not using.
i'm also opposed to the whole concept of a publicly held company...even though i work for one. The priorities are LEGALLY REQUIRED to be top heavy - shareholders, execs, profits, futures, customers/audience/media, THEN employees (maybe). it's the nature of the beast - if you don't like it don't get in it's path - or at least don't be suprised when it swallows you whole and shits you out.
small studios and outsourcing IS the future. If it's not we're all doomed to get screwed by suits for a very long time...so embrace it.
If you plan to create an union, beware... you may be fired!
Also, if you even mention unions in an interview don't expect to get hired.
Co-ops would be a good option for a lot of indies and those looking for a sustainable, long-term career. They allow for profit without the requirement of constant growth. I'm surprised more people haven't chosen this option.