Ex-Sony Computer Entertainment Europe president Chris Deering does not believe recent layoffs across the games industry have been a result of corporate greed. Instead, workers who have lost their jobs should “drive an Uber” or “go to the beach for a year” until employment settles.
Deering was a guest on games writer Simon Parkin’s podcast My Perfect Console, where the pair discussed games industry layoffs.
“I don’t think it’s fair to say that the resulting layoffs have been greed,” said Deering. “I always tried to minimise the speed with which we added staff because I always knew there would be a cycle and I didn’t want to end up having the same problems that Sony did in Electronics.”
This is helpful, but the legal process is very much “the easy part” in my experience.
The hardest part is getting everyone riled enough to actually do something about it without getting singled out yourself, because everywhere is full of cowering servants who “don’t wanna rock the boat” and say things like “It is what it is.” and “I’ve only got a few more years.”
These days feels like you gotta grokk leaked psy-ops manuals from various intelligence agencies to form the kind of proper coordination to find yourself not just standing there alone, a pitiful “distruntled employee”.