After 800 Blizzard Employees Lose Their Jobs, Game Workers Unite Calls for Kotick Firing - MMORPG.c

xmenty

This is my personal view for working life. 
2019. 
1. There are no such thing as "iron rice bowl".  
2. Work in moderate pace. Do not do OT. If you work too hard and get sick all the money will give to the doctor instead. So work moderately. 
3. You do not have to be loyal as fk. ( I have seen workers work for 25 years and they got retrenched on the spot, 2 hrs to clear their things and fk off. This is how company will treat you no matter how good or hardworking you are. )
4. It is not your company, its theirs. 
5. You get fired, just moved on. 
6. Get a driving license. Be a grab or cab driver while waiting for job interview.  
   
 

cronius77

This will fix itself. It has been shifting in other industries already as more employees leave different sectors because they are either underpaid or overworked or have no job security. This happened back at Mythic when EA took over, happened at SOE when they were bought out. I can keep going but everyone who games knows this already. Once a large publisher takes over studios are gutted to maximize profits. But to the point - if you believe that Act/Blizz did wrong vote with your wallet. Do not buy their products and that CEO will not be around much longer. To the rest thinking those employees were so entitled I'm willing to bet you sit around your house yelling at CNN with your hand down your pants with a "make america great again" red hat on your head.

Hatefull

SBFord said:

@Hatefull

If you looked at my post earlier, I acknowledged that it is, of course, a known fact in the contractor community. We work without parachutes yet give just as much as any full time employee. It's a terrible position to be in because you need a job.

As someone who has worked as a contractor for the last decade -- including this particular job -- I fully appreciate that, but it doesn't make it any less disheartening or frightening to be let go. We do what we do without insurance, without guarantees, and without thanks most of the time, yet we throw our whole selves into our work. A lot of these people were working to gain full time status at Blizzard, something that's happened a lot in the past. 
I'm not 100% on board with the whole firing of Kotick thing, but I can say that whoever their PR people are should be given a stern talking-to because they bungled this horribly.

I appreciate you pointing that out, and I am glad you are aware of it. Do not misunderstand me here, I do think the situation sucks, I do not like to see this happen at all. My response was more for the uninformed and while I quoted your post, I feel you probably knew how contracting works before I wrote my response, I just did not feel the need to be any more verbose than I already was.

I am a contractor, different industry, obviously, but the exact same issues. I am a retired Marine as well and I get asked quite often about "high contractor pay". I laugh, yeah we do get paid a lot until you factor in: Paying for insurance, paying to move...constantly, having a big enough savings account to survive the lean months (God forbid years). I tell anyone looking to get into this industry unless you have a guaranteed income (military retirement, rich parents, etc) get a permanent full-time job. Unless you have a fallback, contracting really is NOT worth it.  Traveling nurses can disregard all of this.

Anyway, I meant no disrespect nor animosity towards you, but it is laughable that people are calling for management to resign or the other asinine things people are saying.

If everyone is so concerned, start a go fund me for the employees that were laid off.

Hatefull

Panther2103 said:

black9ice said:

SBFord said:

parrotpholk said:

the package they received seemed fair and reasonable.    This is a nonstarter all around.

Contractors and part time employees got a pink slip, a final check and a foot in the ass sending them out the door.

Just about everyone in this thread is freaking crazy. You are an at will employee period. If people would get through their thick skulls in 2019 that YOU or anyone else is not ENTITLED to anything but the air you breath, this whole world would be a much better place! But that is how society has shifted, GIVE ME, OWE ME, blah blah blah...

Holy crap. What? You shouldn't be on edge 24/7 about whether or not you get to keep your job. Even as an at will employee, you should have some semblance of being treated fairly at work. How would you feel if tomorrow you walked into work and someone fired you on the spot. Would you be on a forum talking about how they are perfectly within their right to do that? Or would you be pissed. I'm guessing it's the latter. 

Like it or lump it, at will employee is just that. You are employed at the will of the company. I don't like it, however, the only viable solution is a union which does not guarantee your employment is safe either.

At will, contractor, temp, whatever, have a plan for when things go south.

Ungood

Hatefull said:

Panther2103 said:

black9ice said:

SBFord said:

parrotpholk said:

the package they received seemed fair and reasonable.    This is a nonstarter all around.

Contractors and part time employees got a pink slip, a final check and a foot in the ass sending them out the door.

Just about everyone in this thread is freaking crazy. You are an at will employee period. If people would get through their thick skulls in 2019 that YOU or anyone else is not ENTITLED to anything but the air you breath, this whole world would be a much better place! But that is how society has shifted, GIVE ME, OWE ME, blah blah blah...

Holy crap. What? You shouldn't be on edge 24/7 about whether or not you get to keep your job. Even as an at will employee, you should have some semblance of being treated fairly at work. How would you feel if tomorrow you walked into work and someone fired you on the spot. Would you be on a forum talking about how they are perfectly within their right to do that? Or would you be pissed. I'm guessing it's the latter. 

Like it or lump it, at will employee is just that. You are employed at the will of the company. I don't like it, however, the only viable solution is a union which does not guarantee your employment is safe either.

At will, contractor, temp, whatever, have a plan for when things go south.

And employers wonder why people are not loyal and hard working.. what is their motive to give you their best if you look upon them as expendable.

MadFrenchie

@DMKano that article also has interesting notes about "suits" from Activision taking over the decision-making process to the detriment of those with a vision for the art of making games.  Surprise, surprise.

Cryomatrix

Ungood said:

And employers wonder why people are not loyal and hard working.. what is their motive to give you their best if you look upon them as expendable.

It goes both ways. Employees come to a new job, stick around, dick around, do whatever, and then leave when someone offers them something better. An employee isnt' like, all things being equal, i'll stay with this company because they pay less out of loyalty . . . doesn't work that way. 

MadFrenchie

Cryomatrix said:

Ungood said:

And employers wonder why people are not loyal and hard working.. what is their motive to give you their best if you look upon them as expendable.

It goes both ways. Employees come to a new job, stick around, dick around, do whatever, and then leave when someone offers them something better. An employee isnt' like, all things being equal, i'll stay with this company because they pay less out of loyalty . . . doesn't work that way. 

I think a lot of the lost loyalty comes from employers gutting things like pensions.  Those are the types of long-term employment benefits that encouraged loyalty.

Hatefull

Ungood said:

Hatefull said:

Panther2103 said:

black9ice said:

SBFord said:

parrotpholk said:

the package they received seemed fair and reasonable.    This is a nonstarter all around.

Contractors and part time employees got a pink slip, a final check and a foot in the ass sending them out the door.

Just about everyone in this thread is freaking crazy. You are an at will employee period. If people would get through their thick skulls in 2019 that YOU or anyone else is not ENTITLED to anything but the air you breath, this whole world would be a much better place! But that is how society has shifted, GIVE ME, OWE ME, blah blah blah...

Holy crap. What? You shouldn't be on edge 24/7 about whether or not you get to keep your job. Even as an at will employee, you should have some semblance of being treated fairly at work. How would you feel if tomorrow you walked into work and someone fired you on the spot. Would you be on a forum talking about how they are perfectly within their right to do that? Or would you be pissed. I'm guessing it's the latter. 

Like it or lump it, at will employee is just that. You are employed at the will of the company. I don't like it, however, the only viable solution is a union which does not guarantee your employment is safe either.

At will, contractor, temp, whatever, have a plan for when things go south.

And employers wonder why people are not loyal and hard working.. what is their motive to give you their best if you look upon them as expendable.

Do they? I am as loyal and hard working as anyone else, you will find that your name and reputation proceed you. If you are good, people will seek you out for projects (speaking to my world of contracting, I assume it is similar in other arena's) and if you suck, you will be the last one called and the first one let go. 

None of the employers I work for wonder that at all, none of the people I work with take it personally when they get let go. Understanding is the key to acceptance, we KNOW we are temporary, hell the very nature of contracting is: you are working yourself out of work the moment you start. These projects have a timeline and at some point, the project (note here I am not saying career) come to an end, and then you rinse and repeat. Sometimes things go wrong and the project ends early, or you get injured an can't work. Such is life.

Most employers would much rather keep a nice tidy group of people working for them as stability breeds happiness, and happiness breeds productivity, however, sometimes bad things happen to good people and down the road you go. Welcome to life, it is seldom fair and not always easy. Better you learn that young.

Asheram

MadFrenchie said:

Cryomatrix said:

Ungood said:

And employers wonder why people are not loyal and hard working.. what is their motive to give you their best if you look upon them as expendable.

It goes both ways. Employees come to a new job, stick around, dick around, do whatever, and then leave when someone offers them something better. An employee isnt' like, all things being equal, i'll stay with this company because they pay less out of loyalty . . . doesn't work that way. 

I think a lot of the lost loyalty comes from employers gutting things like pensions.  Those are the types of long-term employment benefits that encouraged loyalty.

And thats where unions come into play. But then there are right to work states like Arizona snip the cajones of unions.

Cryomatrix

DMKano said:

perrin82 said:

I'll play. Is it possible that these employees, while they may be great, became redundant?

Some were but if you read what insiders are saying - that's not what happened at all.

Read this

https://kotaku.com/the-fallout-of-activision-blizzard-s-massive-layoffs-1832597892

"Over the past week I’ve talked to around 20 people who were laid off or close to those being laid off, as well as others with knowledge as to what’s happening at Activision Blizzard. If there’s a consensus, it’s rage. Rage at Kotick’s comments, at the way Activision executives seemingly view their employees as numbers on a spreadsheet, at the callousness in which this layoff was handled. There’s rage at who was chosen to be laid off—two people told me that it felt like a random, haphazard practice—and rage that some important employees were let go. Some who had been laid off told me they had felt safe, expecting their studios or departments to not be affected. Even those who felt layoffs were necessary or justifiable said they were shocked by the scale, scope, and coldness from executives."


The reality is there were people laid off that nobody expected - non-redundant, important positions were also affected. Like some key IT (top performers) people were let go that were with the company for more than 15 years - and yes some non-redundant folks too.

This is why many at Blizzard are pissed off because there was no rhyme or reason for some of the people who got let go - and some also feel that people that SHOULD have been gone were spared, because they were chummy with certain managers. Typical office politics favoritism and bullshit that is the plague of many corporations

It's a charlie foxtrot  - this was not handled well and many loyal employees have lost faith in Blizzard as a result.

If anything it's a good wake up call for Blizzard employees to get the F out - top talent is not going to stick around for much longer now that the cat is out of the bag.

Perceptions of employees and employers can vary widely. Being on both sides of the aisle, it is amazing, how one person sees something one way and their direct boss is completely different. 

I sympathize with the workers, the whole thing sucks, i feel for them, it is terrible, but I wonder if in their view, they think it doesn't make sense, but then again, they're not seeing it from the executives view. Should the execs have explained things better, probably, could they have done it better probably, should those 800 employees not have been laid off . . . doubtful. 

A lot of time people will not understand why someone does something and make up their own narrative when if they just asked, they'd see the logic behind it. 

My whole point of my response is perception and truth can be wildly different. It doesn't change the reality for those that were laid off though and i'm not trying to change their reality. 

You ever heard the phrase.

"Don't hate the player, hate the game". .  . . hence, don't hate Kotick, hate capitalism. 

It seems some of you dislike capitalism, that is fine, i'm not overly enamored by it either, but i understand how it works and thus argue why in a capitalistic society CEO salaries and professional athletes are what they are and why within the system it makes sense. When people can't understand how a CEO makes 250x more than a developer, the answer is obvious when you understand how business and capitalism work. It doesn't mean it is right, but that is the logic behind it. 

SirAgravaine

Unions are the worst.

lahnmir

SirAgravaine said:

Unions are the worst.

Why?

/Cheers,
Lahnmir

jonrd463

Asheram said:

MadFrenchie said:

Cryomatrix said:

Ungood said:

And employers wonder why people are not loyal and hard working.. what is their motive to give you their best if you look upon them as expendable.

It goes both ways. Employees come to a new job, stick around, dick around, do whatever, and then leave when someone offers them something better. An employee isnt' like, all things being equal, i'll stay with this company because they pay less out of loyalty . . . doesn't work that way. 

I think a lot of the lost loyalty comes from employers gutting things like pensions.  Those are the types of long-term employment benefits that encouraged loyalty.

And thats where unions come into play. But then there are right to work states like Arizona snip the cajones of unions.

Unions are a two edged sword that are quickly outgrowing their usefulness. I work for a very large company that has sites that are both union and non-union. The non-union sites are proving to be the most productive and with the overall higher morale of the two. There are more opportunities for advancement because job roles that are traditionally union and non-union within a union shop are allowed to interact, collaborate, and innovate in a much more cooperative way. By contrast, when you have defined limits on who can do what and when, you stunt the ability for different groups to partner on projects. Instead, you introduce artificial barriers that hinder communication, and introduce all sorts of rules and regs that do nothing but increase costs without any value added. 

All unions are today is just another bureaucratic layer contributing to bloat and ensuring nothing for the workforce but mediocrity. Individual excellence is frowned upon because of some ridiculous sense of it not being fair that a high performing worker is making his peers look bad simply because he can do the job better. 

Our company is slowly moving work away from the union shops, and it's starting to show. 2018 was an amazing year, morale is high, and our future prospects are booming.

Gdemami

jonrd463 said:

Unions are a two edged sword that are quickly outgrowing their usefulness.

....to outgrown usefullness, they would need to be a point they were ever usefull in the first place.

bcbully

yet I still have to correct people by letting them know Activision is in charge...

BossChono

jonrd463 said:

Asheram said:

MadFrenchie said:

Cryomatrix said:

Ungood said:

And employers wonder why people are not loyal and hard working.. what is their motive to give you their best if you look upon them as expendable.

It goes both ways. Employees come to a new job, stick around, dick around, do whatever, and then leave when someone offers them something better. An employee isnt' like, all things being equal, i'll stay with this company because they pay less out of loyalty . . . doesn't work that way. 

I think a lot of the lost loyalty comes from employers gutting things like pensions.  Those are the types of long-term employment benefits that encouraged loyalty.

And thats where unions come into play. But then there are right to work states like Arizona snip the cajones of unions.

Unions are a two edged sword that are quickly outgrowing their usefulness. I work for a very large company that has sites that are both union and non-union. The non-union sites are proving to be the most productive and with the overall higher morale of the two. There are more opportunities for advancement because job roles that are traditionally union and non-union within a union shop are allowed to interact, collaborate, and innovate in a much more cooperative way. By contrast, when you have defined limits on who can do what and when, you stunt the ability for different groups to partner on projects. Instead, you introduce artificial barriers that hinder communication, and introduce all sorts of rules and regs that do nothing but increase costs without any value added. 

All unions are today is just another bureaucratic layer contributing to bloat and ensuring nothing for the workforce but mediocrity. Individual excellence is frowned upon because of some ridiculous sense of it not being fair that a high performing worker is making his peers look bad simply because he can do the job better. 

Our company is slowly moving work away from the union shops, and it's starting to show. 2018 was an amazing year, morale is high, and our future prospects are booming.

Depends on the industry really.  In my work all the different trades work together.  Not an operator available, someone else hop in the machine.  Not enough carpenters, someone grab a saw and start cutting.  Not enough laborers, carpenters will grab a shovel.  Not enough finishers, hell yeah I can work a bull float.  Only the true hardcore union people complain and they tend to not last long.  Of course my company is pretty good.  If you show initiative you will get advancement opportunities if you want them.  If you are lazy they will drop you.  Union doesn't matter

Non union companies come out and they take twice as long as us.  I would milk it too if I was getting paid 10 bucks an hour to jackhammer.   Once we built an entire new bridge in 5 weeks while the non union guys were still doing patches down the way.  We ended up finishing it for them in 2 days because the road had to be opened lol.

Worked on a factory renovation one winter and it was a totally different scene.   In no way shape or form does a laborer do carpenter work.  They would rather we lean on a broom waiting for 8 hours.  Nothing got done and the company ate it hard in overruns.  I was super happy to get out of there.

I don't know how unions work in other environments.  Never worked in an office or on an assembly line and never wanted to.  So I can't speak for them all.   I will agree the union heads are in it for themselves just like bigwigs in these software conglomerates.  They don't care about us at all as long as we pay our dues.  Hell I'm convinced mine is still run by the mafia

laserit

SirAgravaine said:

Unions are the worst.

My company is non union and if my employees ever voted to unionize I would shut the place down, sell everything off and retire.

That being said, Unions are necessary, some companies deserve a union.

Balance is good, when the pendulum swings too far one way or the other it's not good. 

laserit

Gdemami said:

jonrd463 said:

Unions are a two edged sword that are quickly outgrowing their usefulness.

....to outgrown usefullness, they would need to be a point they were ever usefull in the first place.

When they are gone their usefulness will quickly return

laserit

@Gdemami

Care to explain what you find lol worthy?

MadFrenchie

laserit said:

@Gdemami

Care to explain what you find lol worthy?

You've just butthurt him in the past, is all.

AlmostLancelot

Gdemami said:

That is why we can't have nice things...

The self-entitlement of these disgruntled ex-employees is shocking...well, not so much, seems like a good riddance...

For starters, the people complaining aren't the ex-employees. Did you even read the article?

Secondly, losing your job due to no fault of your own has nothing to do with being entitled or not.

Third, you're very ignorant. As evidenced by your complete and utter lack of empathy, while blaming the people who were ousted from their positions, which was completely out of their control. Shame on them for needing to make a living to support their families, etc... The nerve of some people!

I have plenty of "nice things", maybe the issue is a personal one? Did you ever consider that. You seem to be an extremely jaded and negative individual, I bet you're a real blast at parties, assuming you ever leave your basement.

gervaise1

Gdemami said:

jonrd463 said:

Unions are a two edged sword that are quickly outgrowing their usefulness.

....to outgrown usefullness, they would need to be a point they were ever usefull in the first place.

Maybe you should research e.g. matchgirls - some of whom went on strike in 1888; a grand old capitalist age.

AlmostLancelot

laserit said:

@Gdemami

Care to explain what you find lol worthy?

He "lols" posts because he thinks it will get a rise out of people, if there is anyone on this site worth paying no mind to - it's Gdemami.

He loled me immediately, his response time is solid. Gotta give him kudos for being consistent at least.

Pemmin

laserit said:

SirAgravaine said:

Unions are the worst.

My company is non union and if my employees ever voted to unionize I would shut the place down, sell everything off and retire.

That being said, Unions are necessary, some companies deserve a union.

Balance is good, when the pendulum swings too far one way or the other it's not good. 

id just move the company to a right to work state and continue with business as usual