There are a lot of rumblings around here as Electronic Arts, one of the world’s largest video game publisher, is cutting jobs across the board. On record, the figures I am reading is that the layoffs affect about 5 percent of its work force which equals to about 325 to 350 people. On the other side, the numbers I am hearing from people who work in the industry are saying that the number of people that were laid off are more in the range of 900+.
That is definitely bad news for a lot of people as it hit them all by surprise without any time to find an alternative job or form of income. I even read that it was pretty much like a cattle call where people were just constantly given the news that there is no longer a position for them and that they were then given about 5 minutes to pack up their stuff and leave. I hope everyone affected by this will be able to get back on their feet in no time.
Another perspective about this situation that I am reading from a lot of other people who have no remorse over the situation is how they are mocking everyone who complained about the long work hours that are common for most people who work in the game industry. For those who are unaware, there was recently a huge uproar against EA from its employees and their family members on how the company forces people to work ridiculously long hours to the point that one pretty much does nothing but work for EA all day. Anyhow, their perspective on the situation was that everyone who was complaining about having to work long hours now would probably want to go back to that as oppose to be unemployed.
I guess this type of scenario always boils down to the same thing where one side claims that the company is just being greedy by trying to cut down cost to increase their bottom line and the other side claiming that it is purely a business decision to do so in order to improve the company. It’s hard for me to say personally on what the real reasons are as I don’t exactly have inside information about the company plans, but I’m pretty sure it probably had a little to do with both.
An interesting thing that I am reminded of about this situation though are the countless debates on how there really isn’t such a thing as true job security as with unfortunate examples like this a company could be forced to make drastic changes that will affect you. In my opinion, because of this it should be important that you are working on something because it is something that you truly want to do as opposed to just for money. That way, if what you are doing unfortunately has to come to an end, at least you can leave knowing that you had a great experience and will be confident in fulfilling the next chapter in your professional life. Otherwise, you’ll just be a disgruntled person complaining about how you have left with nothing to show and how it has destroyed your financial future.
Generally speaking, if you pursue something that you truly have passion for and believe in it, you could always find ways later on how to make money with it. Doesn’t matter if this is your own business or a job that you are pursuing, enjoying and being good at what you do will always open opportunities for you to satisfy your financial needs. I wish everyone that was affected by this the best in starting a new path.