I found this article valuable, since the author's interviews provide a human perspective to the ongoing layoffs occuring in the games industry. A perspective that shines a light on some specific...
I found this article valuable, since the author's interviews provide a human perspective to the ongoing layoffs occuring in the games industry. A perspective that shines a light on some specific challenges that game developers face after getting laid off.
People who choose to work in any form of entertainment or art as an industry face challenges that more boring industries don't. Also unemployment can be really hard psychologically in a culture...
People who choose to work in any form of entertainment or art as an industry face challenges that more boring industries don't. Also unemployment can be really hard psychologically in a culture where work is tied to identity.
That's the sadder thing about it. I knew it could get rough and I had the tech indutsry in general if it ever felt like I needed an out. ... but ofc the tech industry is also imploding, so I can't...
that more boring industries don't
That's the sadder thing about it. I knew it could get rough and I had the tech indutsry in general if it ever felt like I needed an out.
... but ofc the tech industry is also imploding, so I can't even fall back to that right now. Even getting some minimum wage temp work is non-trivial given the words I've heard from the 6 staffing agencies I tried visiting. It's just a huge wash right now if you aren't already working a job.
(for reference, I did temp work once, right before my first job. I went into one agency, gave a resume, and had an assignment the next week. That agency shut down between 2017 and now, at least at my location)
When I was a kid, my dream job was to work in the video game industry. I'm old enough that when I finished highschool that was kind of like saying your dream job was to be a movie star or an...
When I was a kid, my dream job was to work in the video game industry. I'm old enough that when I finished highschool that was kind of like saying your dream job was to be a movie star or an athlete. Just not really seen as realistic. So I took a more conventional education track and regular office job.
For a while I regretted not following my dream and taking the safe path. Then the EA spouse letter came out and I regretted it a lot less. The more time has passed the less and less I regret that choice. It's just crazy that what's considered a dream job can end up being such a nightmare.
I'm very fortunate that my dream job is to many people a fall-back, second choice, or "practical" career path. To be fair being a web developer might only be 75% of the way to being a dream job,...
I'm very fortunate that my dream job is to many people a fall-back, second choice, or "practical" career path. To be fair being a web developer might only be 75% of the way to being a dream job, but that's pretty good. At small companies I get to dip my toes into every aspect of the business - front end dev, back end dev, kubernetes, UI design, SRE, hiring manager, ML ops, product development, customer interviews, recruiting, etc. All while the expectations are that I'm just a web dev. And as long as I get to learn in a safe environment I'm living the dream.
I found this article valuable, since the author's interviews provide a human perspective to the ongoing layoffs occuring in the games industry. A perspective that shines a light on some specific challenges that game developers face after getting laid off.
People who choose to work in any form of entertainment or art as an industry face challenges that more boring industries don't. Also unemployment can be really hard psychologically in a culture where work is tied to identity.
That's the sadder thing about it. I knew it could get rough and I had the tech indutsry in general if it ever felt like I needed an out.
... but ofc the tech industry is also imploding, so I can't even fall back to that right now. Even getting some minimum wage temp work is non-trivial given the words I've heard from the 6 staffing agencies I tried visiting. It's just a huge wash right now if you aren't already working a job.
(for reference, I did temp work once, right before my first job. I went into one agency, gave a resume, and had an assignment the next week. That agency shut down between 2017 and now, at least at my location)
I know it's bad. Good luck. Industry recessions happen sometimes but they are terrible.
When I was a kid, my dream job was to work in the video game industry. I'm old enough that when I finished highschool that was kind of like saying your dream job was to be a movie star or an athlete. Just not really seen as realistic. So I took a more conventional education track and regular office job.
For a while I regretted not following my dream and taking the safe path. Then the EA spouse letter came out and I regretted it a lot less. The more time has passed the less and less I regret that choice. It's just crazy that what's considered a dream job can end up being such a nightmare.
One person’s dream job is another person’s opportunity to exploit a worker. I hate the slave to your job culture we have in the US.
I'm very fortunate that my dream job is to many people a fall-back, second choice, or "practical" career path. To be fair being a web developer might only be 75% of the way to being a dream job, but that's pretty good. At small companies I get to dip my toes into every aspect of the business - front end dev, back end dev, kubernetes, UI design, SRE, hiring manager, ML ops, product development, customer interviews, recruiting, etc. All while the expectations are that I'm just a web dev. And as long as I get to learn in a safe environment I'm living the dream.