Status: #📥 Tags: Work Culture Links: ( Articles
( The game industry’s disposable workers
Notes
Contractors
- Instead of having full-time employees, game companies hire contractors
- Range from $100/hr to minimum wage
- No benefits since not actual employee
- Insurance, vacation time, etc
- People struggle for long-term employment
- No benefits since not actual employee
- Cheaper for the company
EMPLOYERS SAVE ABOUT 30 PERCENT IN COSTS EACH TIME THEY CLASSIFY A CONTRACTOR AS AN EMPLOYEE.
The IRS considers any on-site worker to be a full-time employee, if that worker spends a significant proportion of their working life in the office and has no other clients. Employers in the game industry often seek to avoid scrutiny by restricting contractors to a nine-month maximum stint
- Definition of a contractor
Sarah case study
- Sarah is looking for a permanent position, but gets lead on through her contracts without actually finding one
- One year contract but still none ?
- Forced to undertake multiple responsibilities, still no benefits
Usage of contractors in game studios
- Help with flexibility during up and downs of company, but the butt of the stick goes to the contractors
- Do the same work as full employees, but no benefits
- Truly treated like disposable workers, little emphasis on their own career growth and opportunities
- Several fines for underpaid and misclassified contractors
Tips for game studio culture > “My advice, especially for people just looking to get a foothold into the industry is be careful. Get written contracts or get hired in. Don’t do anything on a verbal agreement. The temptation to get started into is so alluring that it can be easy to forget that you need to make sure you are secure as an employee or contractor. These practices run rampant in gaming and esports.” - Don’t sell yourself short
Comments
The actual comments can be found in their comment history!
Pojodin
Insights
- commented about how such practices are also prevalent in other industries such as “IT and technical jobs for almost at least as long as I’ve been in IT work.”
- However, he himself has a full-time position, but other people they know do not and also undergo similar contractor experiences, even working in “multiple part time jobs in multiple fields to scrape by”
- Pities those who are stuck in the loop
- Even when in a full-time position, they still found it to be physically and mentally draining
- Contract lengths can range from 3,6,12 months
Thoughts
- It’s cool to see that even those people who have it better off are aware and sympathetic of such unjust practices
EmberDione
Insights
- Experienced being under a 3-month contract, finding out that the whole practice was illegal
- Was presented the position as a “‘trial’ to see if I fit with the team and could learn the tool fast enough and if I did, then I would get the next full time spot that opened up, which there would be one – because they were doubling the size of the studio”
- Was about to be replaced with a different contractor, but they declined, so the offer came to him instead
- Since they were the company’s second choice, given poor wage and benefits despite working 12 hours
- Recommends to look for other opportunities rather than tunnel visioning on being upgraded after a contract
Thoughts
- Even when presented the offer to upgrade, they still get awful conditions
Feklr
Insights
- Just like Pojodin, claims that this happens in other cyclical fields
- Recommends that contractors should be informed to have greater clarity when accepting such contracts
- Taught in school
- Should be mentioned by hiring agencies, but they get paid too much to do otherwise
Often the contractors themselves are paid the same hourly rate as the agency makes off of them. So for the staff making $15 an hour, the agency is making the same. The incentives to the agencies that are making millions, the companies that are saving millions in overhead costs, are too great to make the arraignment go away.
- Advice: Only take 6-12 month contracts, if asked to renew ask for more benefits or employment
- Will pose to be more beneficial than them having to get someone new accustomed
Thoughts
- I wonder how it is in the field of software engineering seeing that many industries undergo a similar staffing issue
Supplemental Article Takeaways
Developer Satisfaction Survey 2019
1
Notably, we have seen a rise to 24% of game developers identifying as female, and a total of 29% of game developers not identifying as male. This is a 10% increase in the representation of female developers seen previously Survey respondents were predominately identified as male (71%). Slightly less than one quarter (24%) identified as female, 3% identified as non-binary, and 2% selected “Prefer to self-describe” as their response.
- Game development is seeing gradual improvements in diversity, and that such statistics are taken into account in these surveys
2
- Interesting to see that most people who took the survey are indie game developers
- May be biased depending on where the survey was shared, but it seems like things might have gotten better since there are double more full-time employees than there are contractors? That is still a lot of contractors though
3
Many respondents were born in the United States. They made up 50% of the sample (Figure 1). Canada had 9%, and Mexico had 1%, bringing the overall North American representation to 60%. Asia represented 8% of survey respondents. Europe accounted for 20% of respondents, Australia and Oceania accounted for 8%, South and Central America and the Caribbean made up 4%, and Africa represented 1%.
- Interesting that North America comprised more than the other continents combined, seeing as gaming is a generally worldwide phenomenon
4
Slightly less than half of the survey respondents (42%) reported having a specialized degree that was ‘somewhat relevant’ to game development and more than a third (37%) reported having a degree that was ‘directly relevant’ to game development. The remaining 21% had educational backgrounds that they said were ‘not relevant’ to game development.
- I’m curious as to how people who studied in other fields can use their knowledge in school to help with game development, and whether their degree was with the intention to pursue game development or if they decided to switch later on in life
5
28% of respondents identified as having a disability. The most frequently selected category of disability was psychiatric or mental illness (11%).
- I feel like that’s a high amount of people, roughly 1/4
- Wonder if any of those are as a result of the game development field
Ideas
- People work hard to try and gain secure positions as contractors, but are rarely given the opportunities
Actionable
- Don’t fall into the same trap
Thoughts/Questions
- It sucks to hear the harsh reality, seeing that people need this to cover life expenses and support families
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Created:: 2022-02-11 14:02