Jessica Price

Daybreak's hiring. Barely 4 months after significant layoffs. Big Fish is hiring, a day??? after major layoffs.

Twitch laid off a bunch of people in April, I think it was? saying it had "overhired" and then, barely a breath later, saying it was so hale and hearty it was going to increase headcount by 30%.

Now, just because you decide your marketing department is too big doesn't mean you're not going to need an additional programmer.

But I'd be SUPER leery of companies that have significant layoffs, then significant hiring pushes. I would investigate whether they're hiring for positions from which they recently laid people off. That's a management red flag.

And moreover, if you had to lay off a bunch of people because you mismanaged your hiring or your budgeting, and now find yourself staffing back up, the ethical thing to do would be first to reach out to those you laid off.

But more to the point, yo-yo-ing staff numbers are a GIANT FLASHING WARNING SIGN about the stability of any job you get there.

Because either management doesn't know what they're doing with scoping and staffing, OR management is trying to sell you on what they basically see as project-based--that is, limited time--jobs by advertising them as careers.

Now, look, this isn't some sort of absolute. Sometimes companies take advantage of layoffs to get rid of people who aren't working out more gently than firing them. (Rarely, but sometimes.)

And sometimes management genuinely gets caught by surprise and has to choose between layoffs or likely driving the company into complete failure. Sometimes.

But more often, it's mismanagement. And it's seeing game industry talent as disposable.

A BUNCH of those Twitch positions are for marketing and community positions, which are the two areas that had major layoffs.

Am I saying don't apply to any company that's had layoffs recently? No. Apply where you want to apply, do what you gotta do. But I am saying you owe it to yourself to ask some hard questions in those interviews.

Also, bear in mind, one of the ways companies cut costs is by getting rid of highly paid senior staff (usually during layoffs, but sometimes they'll manufacture excuses for firings) so they can bring in someone more junior to do the same job with a lower title--and lower pay.

Those jobs are usually the worst, because you have the same responsibilities/accountabilities without the same power/seniority. Being accountable for something without the concomitant authority is being set up to fail.

So you owe it to yourself to ask what the job title of the last person to cover some or all of your job responsibilities was, and where they were positioned in the org chart. You may not get an honest answer, but you owe it to yourself to ask.

There are very few ways to hold companies accountable for abusive labor practices.

There's barely any legal recourse. The law is 30 years behind the realities of the game industry, and the technology. Most law firms won't take cases on contingency unless they're pretty sure winners. So if you want to sue, it usually takes money up front.

And that's before we even TOUCH how labor protections have been gutted over the past 30 years. And how even where law/agencies trying to protect workers exists, it's been systematically drained of staff and resources.

So. The industry certainly isn't going to protect you. Its financial interests lie in exploiting you. The law is not going to protect you. It's behind the times. Lawyers aren't going to protect you. It's not financially sound. Government agencies are not going to protect you.

You can protect yourself by asking questions and choosing where you're willing to work. Making it hard for a company that's been caught abusing its employees to find talent willing to work for it is one form of accountability.

And game industry workers can protect each other. TALK to press, on social media, etc., even if you have to do it anonymously, about layoffs and other abuses. And believe those who are talking. Listen, amplify, warn others, etc.

Yes, I know, it can be hard to feel like you have the ability to be picky about which jobs you take--let alone interview for--especially if you're junior. I'll be the first to admit I don't have good answers.

But I do know this: people will feed the beast because they never believe it will eat them. It will, eventually, eat you. So figure out where the lines you won't cross, the values you won't sacrifice, are, and do it now, before the situation where you have to decide comes up.