I’d argue that the skills required to work in the videogame industry are easily repurposed for other IT or creative jobs.
I know dozens of people who’ve been looking for over a year, for anything in the software field. The issue is companies would rather hire a kid straight out of school than pay for someone with experience. I’m in a discord channel of people (from the last place I worked at that has now gone bankrupt) and the vast majority are still without a job. Most are going outside the industry into the standbys (food service, warehouse, etc). My linkedin was so depressing, post after post about people who used to be engineers I worked with now getting hurt working in Amazon Fulfillmment centres, I just stopped going there and use discord/indeed for job searching. I’m really close with the QA team from my last job, and all but one of them have moved back in with their parents.
The tech layoff wave is still going strong in 2024. Following significant workforce reductions in 2022 and 2023, this year has more than 130,000 job cuts across 457 companies, according to independent layoffs tracker Layoffs.fyi. Companies like Tesla, Amazon, Google, TikTok, Snap and Microsoft have conducted sizable layoffs in the first months of 2024. Smaller-sized startups have also seen a fair amount of cuts, and in some cases, have shut down operations altogether.
Not sure where people think everyone is going to go; there are more closures than job openings.
I wish you the best, I’m looking outside software in general. I used to offer to help people find employment in games but now I just can’t. I’ve seen too many people broken by it.
I do hope you find something, anything, so you can continue to survive.
Yeah, I was adjacent to the game industry for a minute and am aware of how much churn business execs force on developers. Good luck yourself in your search
As someone who has crossed over both and currently working in games, it’s actually kind of wild how different a mindset games are. It takes a very specific skillset even in software engineering and there are unique challenges to both sides of the fence. Crossing over is not quite as easily transferable as you’d think
When I got paid minimum wage to work at a grocery store, I certainly didn’t give it 100% every day. They paid me minimum wage because they wanted to pay me less, but the law wouldn’t let them. Why should I stress myself out for a job like that? Of course I shouldn’t, and it didn’t bother my bosses that it took it easy on a regular basis.
The same general principle applies to other jobs as well. If you’re fairly low on the totem pole and some the big problem comes up that could affect the company in a major way, you’d be out of your mind to try to tackle it yourself. They don’t pay you enough to risk your job to tackle it yourself. It’s your boss or your boss’s problem.
I’ve painted myself into a corner with the skills I’ve acquired. The job isnt common so the few of us in these roles have to leave completely in order for a vacancy to open up.
In theory I have transferable skills, but in a job that’s more common there will be more people with those exact skills competing for those roles. So by comparison, I become a risky hire in a sea of perfectly qualified candidates.
You’d think this means my “lucrative skills” are fairly compensated, but I assure you they are not. If I don’t get a raise and I complain, they remind me that I can leave if I’m not happy.
It’s in my nature to work hard regardless of my salary or working conditions, so I’ll never “quiet quit” or “act my wage”, but I understand why a lot of people do.
True. If you get yourself an interesting skill set, either your employer will pay accordingly or you won’t have difficulty finding one that does.
“Act your wage” is just a poor excuse to normalize laziness.
The entire video game industry would love a word.
I’d argue that the skills required to work in the videogame industry are easily repurposed for other IT or creative jobs.
I know dozens of people who’ve been looking for over a year, for anything in the software field. The issue is companies would rather hire a kid straight out of school than pay for someone with experience. I’m in a discord channel of people (from the last place I worked at that has now gone bankrupt) and the vast majority are still without a job. Most are going outside the industry into the standbys (food service, warehouse, etc). My linkedin was so depressing, post after post about people who used to be engineers I worked with now getting hurt working in Amazon Fulfillmment centres, I just stopped going there and use discord/indeed for job searching. I’m really close with the QA team from my last job, and all but one of them have moved back in with their parents.
It is fucking bleak in software right now.
Not sure where people think everyone is going to go; there are more closures than job openings.
Oh boy. That’s what I like to see after a year unemployed from software.
I wish you the best, I’m looking outside software in general. I used to offer to help people find employment in games but now I just can’t. I’ve seen too many people broken by it.
I do hope you find something, anything, so you can continue to survive.
Yeah, I was adjacent to the game industry for a minute and am aware of how much churn business execs force on developers. Good luck yourself in your search
<3
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As someone who has crossed over both and currently working in games, it’s actually kind of wild how different a mindset games are. It takes a very specific skillset even in software engineering and there are unique challenges to both sides of the fence. Crossing over is not quite as easily transferable as you’d think
deleted by creator
When I got paid minimum wage to work at a grocery store, I certainly didn’t give it 100% every day. They paid me minimum wage because they wanted to pay me less, but the law wouldn’t let them. Why should I stress myself out for a job like that? Of course I shouldn’t, and it didn’t bother my bosses that it took it easy on a regular basis.
The same general principle applies to other jobs as well. If you’re fairly low on the totem pole and some the big problem comes up that could affect the company in a major way, you’d be out of your mind to try to tackle it yourself. They don’t pay you enough to risk your job to tackle it yourself. It’s your boss or your boss’s problem.
In theory, yes.
I’ve painted myself into a corner with the skills I’ve acquired. The job isnt common so the few of us in these roles have to leave completely in order for a vacancy to open up.
In theory I have transferable skills, but in a job that’s more common there will be more people with those exact skills competing for those roles. So by comparison, I become a risky hire in a sea of perfectly qualified candidates.
You’d think this means my “lucrative skills” are fairly compensated, but I assure you they are not. If I don’t get a raise and I complain, they remind me that I can leave if I’m not happy.
It’s in my nature to work hard regardless of my salary or working conditions, so I’ll never “quiet quit” or “act my wage”, but I understand why a lot of people do.