How much of an impact do you think the virus will have on the next batch of graduates finding jobs?

tomturner

Will studios be cautious about hiring someone completely new, and trusting them to work remotely, if that is still the case in a few months time? Interested to hear your thoughts  

Meloncov

I can't imagine any studio hiring now unless absolutely necessary. I switched teams inside of the environment art group this week, and even that has been a bit of a mess. I'm sure in a couple weeks we'll be much better at organizing remotely, but on-boarding someone new still seems like a nightmare.

So yeah, this year's graduates will likely have a bit of a rough start. And that's before we even start to think about the impact of the increasingly-likely global recession.

Zi0

I agree with Meloncov, now that most companies closed their offices and everybody is working from home hiring new people is put on hold until offices open again.

poopipe

Sadly I think the above is correct. We're struggling to support the staff we have as it is - adding more to the mix would be nuts. 


If there's any silver lining to be found it's that entertainment based industries tend to weather economic downturns etc pretty well.  If people stop going out they go through more movies, books and video games.

Studios that are financially comfortable will come out of this OK but many have a very rough year ahead of them

Goat Justice

poopipe said:

Sadly I think the above is correct. We're struggling to support the staff we have as it is - adding more to the mix would be nuts. 

 This. It's only a small sample, but from chatting with friends at a few studios it seems like everyone had to roll out Work from Home plans very quickly. The solutions implemented vary at different studios, but none are perfect. Most places are likely busy trying to iron out the issues in their WHF process, and trying to estimate what their production speed will actually be under this new way of working.  That should lead to an idea of how project schedules are impacted and what staffing needs will be. The dust needs to settle a bit before anyone can really predict the road ahead. 

For a job seeker, it might be worth looking around for  smaller productions that are less centralized and already more comfortable working with freelancers and remote staff. Tough gigs to get for someone who is entry level, but worth looking for. 

zachagreg

From personal experience I would say it will drastically decrease their chances. I am not a new grad anymore but I have been put on hold currently for any positions that I have been pursuing in the previous weeks. I've been in contact with one or two companies that I applied for that want to set up interviews but currently cannot commit to any new hires or interviewing processes as they are bogged down with the goings on of COVID. Completely understandable IMO.

In terms of how long it will remain an issue and how big of an impact it will have on new grads is determined by how long the pandemic remains an issue. Which is sadly up in the air in terms of time I won't put any numbers because I don't want to spread misinformation. Look at your trusted expert sources for that.

rollin

You mean compared to all the other graduates of the previous years which never did find a job?

NikhilR

rollin said:

You mean compared to all the other graduates of the previous years which never did find a job?

Its also come at the worst possible time, close to when students graduates and start applying to postings and internships.

zachagreg

rollin said:

You mean compared to all the other graduates of the previous years which never did find a job?

I mean going from a hypothetical 10% hire rate to a zero is worse

tomturner

as I’m due to graduate in the coming months I’m obviously keeping my fingers crossed, but I know things have gotten a lot more complicated. I regularly check LinkedIn and other sites for job postings just out of curiosity anyway, and there’s still plenty of postings per day (worldwide), so why would this be the case if studios aren’t interested in hiring?

zachagreg

Studios will sometimes keep open applications for when they actually need to people. That way they have a larger pool to draw from. They also may be getting applications for when they are preparing to receive a project or knowing they need to ramp up production in the coming months. Many studios will also keep open applications for senior levels as well. There isn't anything saying they can't do this so it doesn't always mean they are currently hiring.

The best thing you can do right now is stay safe and secure your position as an artist by doing work that is at a hire-able level. Stay busy and stay positive while there is a lot of uncertainty in the world at the moment.

poopipe

A large part of it will be that the people in studios who are organising the WFH process are the same ones who handle all the staff related activities. 

HR, IT, Site/Facilities and other support departments across the industry are run ragged at the moment - nobody's got time to be updating websites or dealing with external people

Ashervisalis

A large number of 3D studios work on live action films. All live action filming I know about is currently put on hold. Seems like in a bit, 3D artists working on live action won't have anything to work on. That would be my guess anyways.

Regarding animation or games, I feel the economy would have more effect on whether studios hire or not.

Larry

I may be dreaming and "optimistic" but in an apocalyptic virus scenario that lasts, where people stay inside, entertainment becomes a more important thing, hence in the long term it's gonna have an overall increase demand. For a couple of weeks though, not really :P

Neox

it might as well go the other way around. i creased demand now, but if this stays longer a lot of people will be unemployed. if you have to decide if you money goes into games or rent/food/necessities it will always go to the more importan part, ramping up pirating.

Eric Chadwick

@tomturner FYI you should put links in your signature block to your ongoing wip threads. A discussion thread like this one is a great way to draw eyeballs to your work, and sig links are an effortless way for people to see it.