Canadas booming video game industry facing labour crunch
http://www.vancouversun.com/business/Canada+booming+video+game+industry+facing+labour+crunch/9460427/story.html
They claim there is a shortage of Canadian senior talent so they need to import senior talent from the rest of the world.
Industry representatives are appealing to the federal government to make it easier to fill positions with foreign workers, noting a particular shortage of intermediate- to senior-level talent.
They claim there is a shortage of Canadian senior talent so they need to import senior talent from the rest of the world.
Replies
I'm not sure how I feel about that. On one hand, it's (potentially) great news for anyone looking for a job. On the other, the CG boom in Canada is due almost entirely to tax incentives. I certainly wouldn't mind living there nor do I have anything against Canada, but I'm not exactly sympathetic that they're having trouble filling a largely imported industry with skilled, homegrown labor.
Canadian sr. artists go (or recruited) to the States where salaries are much higher. The guys remaining, the studio owners, compensate with international guys who might be flexible with lower salaries in exchange for a visa (and closeness to harder to enter U.S. in case they want to move there.)
The problem IMHO is lack of retention, and reliance on outsourcing. This industry has hemorrhaged Seniors as long as I have known. Largely due to terrible investment in their employees, and a heavy reliance on staff learning newer tech/tools/pipelines on their OWN TIME.
This is fine for a lot of guys in their early 20's but it isn't the easiest thing for guys who are in their 40's struggling to find time with their spouse and kids.
We are also not hiring juniors, because in most cases, the immediate returns are better to simply outsource. (I understand long-term this is cannibalizing our domestic industry).
I feel VERY lucky to be a part of a studio that invests in our knowledge and skill-set, but I completely understand how rare this actually is. This industry is usually known for discarding their employees and hiring people who DO have a specific expertise. We're reaching a point where we've hit a wall where there aren't a lot of proven Seniors with updated skills.
edit: To clarify, you shouldn't feel you need to move internationally just to progress in your field. That's unethical on part of your employer, not you.
The sad irony about sr. artists moving to the US (or Australia) is that so many CG studios, especially in VFX, are moving to Canada. The funny thing is that it doesn't take long for the cost of living in some of these places (like Singapore) to skyrocket, leading everyone to move again. The long term effect is that the actual cost of doing business is never really established, creating yet another reason for studios to have difficulty sustaining themselves.
Having a family also changes how and where you can work.
I've turned down game industry job offers in the past two years because I'm not going to move my wife and son away from their extended family. My son sees his grandparents once a week and that is very important and brings a lot of joy to them.
Moving around is unethical? undercut all the people you went to school with ......in another country ? Really you are just coming off as bitter not even especially angry, the games industry is an international industry, and the talent comes from a range of countries, No one is taking away work from locals, if the skills are up to par recruiting would I am sure prefer to hire locals due to visa issues, without the tax breaks there would be less jobs there for foreign and domestic workers I am sure.
If you can't find work, work on your port, because having a better port is always the thing that will put you ahead of someone else, don't think the stupid nonsense written on your passport is some kind of right to a job because you were squeezed out of a vagina on a certain plot of earth all those years ago.
are you sure thats what he means? lol, so hes not in favour of people being educated elsewhere then moving back with a "superior" education and undercutting his fellow nationals.
seems illogical someone would seek a better education for a lower pay.
That's exactly what I'm saying. I think it's unethical because everything you've gained from your education is monetarily based on the country in which you were educated. I have no issue with people moving back to be with family etc., but when you severely undercut the people you went to school with, you destabilize the whole industry. It's not illegal, but it's unethical. Again, it's a touchy subject. I'm not out to offend anyone and I'm not angry or bitter, but that is how I see the current state of the industry. We're all entitled to our opinions. ExcessiveZero, if I offended you, I apologize.
edit: I really didn't mean to derail the topic like this. Back to Canada!
well too bad, one might think they deserve it.
What if studios are closing in your native country? What if another country has crazy tax incentives to business there? What if publishers and studio execs where opening studios in other country's and closing studos in your native country, because it saves them millions?
And in this magical hypothesis land, what if there was a shortage in local mid-level talent?
Kinda makes sense to get a job in this other country now. Lots of work, other studios to fall back on, less risk of being cut after a project. Read the thread again?