Interesting. Hadn't heard but I can definitely get some inside info tommorow.
They look like they could use a couple of dollars! This line scares me:
"Some workers said the company is trying to shave costs by reducing salaries and benefits and by getting rid of older, higher-earning employees."
What with EA announcing a big college recruitment drive, I honestly see this as a growing trend. Im seriously beginning to wonder about freelancing again the older I get. Seems like the big companies dont want my experience, they want someone gullible fresh out of college that they pay peanuts. Boohoo.
Yeah, I've often wondered is this is an industry I can retire in. You don't see to many oldsters in game developement, but I always took comfort in finding that are older, experienced people in films.
But now it looks like even the effects companies are opting for younger, cheaper labor. I wonder if this is a result of software becoming easier to use, and companies are realizing that they can keep on just a couple experienced artists who can then guide a larger group of more inexperienced artist to get the results they want.
This is obviously necessary because George Lucas doesn't have enough money, as he's only worth $3 billion. How is he supposed to feed his family if he has to pay his employees fairly?
It won't happen, but it would be interesting to see an ILM strike after Dec 31st. Every week they sit at home is a week Episode 3 is delayed, minimum. Go ahead, hire some inexperienced college kids to work as scabs - Star Wars will be six months late and look like ass, but at least George will have saved a few bucks on salary and benefits...
Look at it this way, you're a game developer (or FX company) and you've got $120k/yr to hire new artists. You can hire two experienced artists for $60k/yr each, or one at $60k/yr and two college grads at $30k/yr, and you get the guy (or girl) with experience to watch over the other two. From a purely numbers point of veiw there's a certain logic to that. And I'm not so sure that six months down the road you wouldn't be getting more production done with the two newbies and one old timer, than you would with two old timers. So from a business perspective I can see how it makes sense to keep bringing in new talent for cheap, but I still think it sucks.
And thinking that Episode III won't come out if the employees go on strike is a nice idea, but the reality is that it'll come out on time either way. They would just hire outside fx artists to finish it up, and maybe it won't look as good, but it'll still make millions of dollars because it's Star Wars. So I doubt George is losing sleep over a possible strike. And from what I understand, ILM employees aren't allowed to strike. I think it's in their contract.
This was from a thread at CGTalk:
[ QUOTE ]
our CBA prohits strikes.
Sure it makes sense from a business perspective - if it didn't, businesses wouldn't do it. Quality almost always takes a backseat to profitability, no matter the industry. I don't think George Lucas wants his work to look shabby, but I do think he wants it done as cheaply as he can possibly get away with...
I think the problem lies in "a few big players and not enough little/medium players". If you look at other businesses the amount of small to medium enterprises would actually make up the bulk of the market, which is good in many ways, a) tough competition keeping the big players lean b) it caps salaries to some extent, which inturn prevents culling of the likes that is described above c) gives employees alternatives in terms of job security. With games for instance there doesnt seem to be many games that are undertaken by small to medium enterprises, its all big game publishers, which is wrong in terms of market balance.
In the past these developers have held the fort simply because of their distribution network and advertising weight that they can put behind a product. I think the games industry needs to move more toward internet distribution where the costs are far lower to operate. A fundamental shift in the way the market is structured is required before and real change can be seen. If you look a tthe game industry the management will always make many times more than the workers and the workers will always get pinched first. A great shame really.
fit's the picture i had of ILM. apparently, a lot of their staff consists of people who leave after a few projects and move on to better compensated jobs at other studios, taking with them credits for work on usually high profile projects to spice up resumes.
so, as long as you're an attractive company to work at (as viewed from the outside), you probably have little to care about a few disgruntled employees here or there. there's always enough talent willing to work even for free.
Replies
They look like they could use a couple of dollars!
"Some workers said the company is trying to shave costs by reducing salaries and benefits and by getting rid of older, higher-earning employees."
What with EA announcing a big college recruitment drive, I honestly see this as a growing trend. Im seriously beginning to wonder about freelancing again the older I get. Seems like the big companies dont want my experience, they want someone gullible fresh out of college that they pay peanuts. Boohoo.
But now it looks like even the effects companies are opting for younger, cheaper labor. I wonder if this is a result of software becoming easier to use, and companies are realizing that they can keep on just a couple experienced artists who can then guide a larger group of more inexperienced artist to get the results they want.
It won't happen, but it would be interesting to see an ILM strike after Dec 31st. Every week they sit at home is a week Episode 3 is delayed, minimum. Go ahead, hire some inexperienced college kids to work as scabs - Star Wars will be six months late and look like ass, but at least George will have saved a few bucks on salary and benefits...
And thinking that Episode III won't come out if the employees go on strike is a nice idea, but the reality is that it'll come out on time either way. They would just hire outside fx artists to finish it up, and maybe it won't look as good, but it'll still make millions of dollars because it's Star Wars. So I doubt George is losing sleep over a possible strike. And from what I understand, ILM employees aren't allowed to strike. I think it's in their contract.
This was from a thread at CGTalk:
[ QUOTE ]
our CBA prohits strikes.
it was mearly a silent protest.
-todd
creature TD
ILM
[/ QUOTE ]
In the past these developers have held the fort simply because of their distribution network and advertising weight that they can put behind a product. I think the games industry needs to move more toward internet distribution where the costs are far lower to operate. A fundamental shift in the way the market is structured is required before and real change can be seen. If you look a tthe game industry the management will always make many times more than the workers and the workers will always get pinched first. A great shame really.
so, as long as you're an attractive company to work at (as viewed from the outside), you probably have little to care about a few disgruntled employees here or there. there's always enough talent willing to work even for free.