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[PeteBull]

Dat unionisation surely does wonders

 

[JCK75]

I saw how many got laid off and was like damn.. then remembered this and was like. oh yea makes sense..

 

[MrRibeye]

thanks Z zaga for digging this one up and reminding us about the union at id

definitely adds a new dimension to the story doesn't it

 

[ByWatterson]

But did they get to work from home or not?

I mean they're at home, yeah

 

[Interfectum]

But did they get to work from home or not?

Now they get to chill from home.

 

[Shmunter]

Whoops

 

[simpatico]

I hope they at least get refunds on their dues. This parallels my union experience.

 

[AJUMP23]

They will be shut down in 5 years.

1 year

 

[AJUMP23]

We need better grave dancing gifs.

 

[Panajev2001a]

But did they get to work from home or not?

Thing is that a lot of people especially in management want to be in the office to be seen doing things and feel authority over others. Some devs hate WFH / remote work because you are / can only be judged on what you actually deliver and when.

Also, to those raising the point about "they unionised and MS hit them first because of it": if it were true you are proving the point the unions are making about the way industry treats workers… sure .

 

[SnapShot]

I see the union worked out so well

 

[LordOcidax]

 

[StreetsofBeige]

Good job id. Way to help yourself get booted.

Good luck getting new jobs too with a past union tag for a white collar job.

 

[MagusMajul]

I guess that union didn't help them out after all lol. Mic Gordon is getting the last laugh!

 

[diffusionx]

I support unions as a concept but the fact is in a modern professional office setting they are useless. It's just an outdated and obsolete concept. We need a new concept to protect workers, but the only thing I think anyone has thought of are the stronger protections in European countries through regulation, which of course is a trade off.

It often seems to be companies rhat are already failing and slipping that tend to get unionized nowadays, which of course is backwards.

 

[DonkeyPunchJr]

I support unions as a concept but the fact is in a modern professional office setting they are useless. It's just an outdated and obsolete concept. We need a new concept to protect workers, but the only thing I think anyone has thought of are the stronger protections in European countries through regulation, which of course is a trade off.

It often seems to be companies rhat are already failing and slipping that tend to get unionized nowadays, which of course is backwards.

Yeah I can see the need for a union if you're doing hourly/shift work and/or doing a job that is physically demanding, dangerous, or causes fatigue. And where employees are easily replaceable.

But for skilled white collar salaried employees who work on a computer all day? I don't get it. A competent employer will do almost anything to retain their top talent.

 

[diffusionx]

Yeah I can see the need for a union if you're doing hourly/shift work and/or doing a job that is physically demanding, dangerous, or causes fatigue. And where employees are easily replaceable.

But for skilled white collar salaried employees who work on a computer all day? I don't get it. A competent employer will do almost anything to retain their top talent.

Also unions worked when a company had literally their entire operation in a giant factory that needed 50,000 people to run with millions of dollars of equipment that needed to run in perfect harmony. Yea those people were replaceable but if they organized and shut down the factory we are talking about millions of dollars of losses a day.

Nowadays we are talking about a company with 200 employees of which like 75 are bullshit jobs and the rest can be replaced or worked from home or whatever. Like fucking gawker unionized, as if you need a highly paid union employee to write slandering snarky drivel. Even back then you could throw a rock at a university quad and hit a person who could do it.

 

[ValiantInstance]

Apparently 165 of their employees unionised, but 136 were axed. I sense a backstabbing.

 

[Kacho]

 

[diffusionx]

Apparently 165 of their employees unionised, but 136 were axed. I sense a backstabbing.

When employees unionize companies hire consultants that tell them what to do to destroy it. Starbucks is going through this now.

I fully support strong employee protections but unions are not the way to achieve this anymore.

 

[ReyBrujo]

Dat unionisation surely does wonders

Well, a union protects you from a few things but if they fire you and they give you the correct compensation by law there's almost nothing you can do. At least in Argentina where unions and labor lawsuits are extremely powerful you would be able to claim all the unpaid extra hours with interest. If the study was going down or if more than half the company had been laid off you could ask the government to intervene as well.

 

[Gaiff]

Gaf when Id software gets effectively destroyed:

Gaf when it remembers they were unionized:

 

[ValiantInstance]

When employees unionize companies hire consultants that tell them what to do to destroy it. Starbucks is going through this now.

I fully support strong employee protections but unions are not the way to achieve this anymore.

Employee protection is one of the few things that Europe does better than the US. I was made redundant last year, but to do so cost my company a £10k payout. It likely cost a lot more with legal consultations.

 

[DryvBy]

Employee protection is one of the few things that Europe does better than the US. I was made redundant last year, but to do so cost my company a £10k payout. It likely cost a lot more with legal consultations.

Wages aren't so protect those low paying jobs all you want.

 

[DeepEnigma]

We try telling them. This is not the industry to mess around in with this.

Front loaded millions for years before you even turn a profit if at all in the gamble of a volatile industry? Good luck.

 

[MagusMajul]

Unions are a terrible thing, if you don't like your job than quit or start your own business then see how the world really works!

 

[xrnzaaas]

Unions are a terrible thing, if you don't like your job than quit or start your own business then see how the world really works!

At their core they can be a good way of protecting yourself against a shitty employer and their practices, but the original idea has been abused by many employees. In some countries and areas of industry being a part of union can mean you're untouchable and can strongarm your employer to improve your working conditions even if that means that the whole company will end up in deep financial trouble.

Big corpos dismantling whole studios because they wanted or managed to unionize is nothing more than sending a message to be a good hard-working bee or you're out. In cases like this I will always take the side of the employees.

 

[Zacfoldor]

 

[Spukc]

 

[ResilientBanana]

We need better grave dancing gifs.

Fuck you shit bag. id Software were the pioneers of the industry. Why dance on the grave of a game developer that built damn near everything we know today?

The unionized because they knew this day would come and they thought it would protect them to some degree.

 

[Jinzo Prime]

I'm not going to dance on ID's grave because they unionized. It's clear they were worried about getting axed and took advice from some union consultant on how to save the studio. It didn't work out, and that sucks.

Unions in the US don't have the force of law behind them like they do in Europe or South America.

 

[Varteras]

 

[Gonzito]

We need better grave dancing gifs.

 

[Alebrije]

Unions at its core are good but most of them end working againts their members that is why a lot of people dont like them. But no matter of union or other groups if your product dont sell as expected you will be out of gaming bussiness soon.

Consumer behavior and tons of small developers are the main "risk" for developers like id.

 

[Beechos]

Now this explains why most of id was let go.

 

[Arsic]

Together to the unemployment line!

 

[AJUMP23]

Fuck you shit bag. id Software were the pioneers of the industry. Why dance on the grave of a game developer that built damn near everything we know today?

The unionized because they knew this day would come and they thought it would protect them to some degree.

But it proved the union was a feckless ideology that did nothing and in fact probably sped up their demise and MS desire to end their demise. I am sure there are great developers caught in the destruction of iD, but the people that built iD are long gone. Carmack and Romero are no longer there.

I am more dancing on the ideology of the union than the demise of iD. But your response is so unhinged it is beyond reason. I think you should be a little more resilient and relax.

I would say the same cuts should happen at 343, and several other MS and playstation studios. Industry is bloated.

 

[Gaiff]

But it proved the union was a feckless ideology that did nothing and in fact probably sped up their demise and MS desire to end their demise. I am sure there are great developers caught in the destruction of iD, but the people that built iD are long gone. Carmack and Romero are no longer there.

I am more dancing on the ideology of the union than the demise of iD. But your response is so unhinged it is beyond reason. I think you should be a little more resilient and relax.

I would say the same cuts should happen at 343, and several other MS and playstation studios. Industry is bloated.

Considering the tech on display with the last Doom, I'd say there were still many talented people there. Ubisoft even took pages from their books to optimize Black Flag Resynced and it allowed them to add RTGI in performance mode on consoles.

It was a team of very talented artists, coders, engineers, etc, that got gutted.

 

[AJUMP23]

Considering the tech on display with the last Doom, I'd say there were still many talented people there. Ubisoft even took pages from their books to optimize Black Flag Resynced and it allowed them to add RTGI in performance mode on consoles.

It was a team of very talented artists, coders, engineers, etc, that got gutted.

Ya, and it is unfortunate that many talented people are losing their jobs. But they hoisted themselves on their own petard.

 

[Gaiff]

Ya, and it is unfortunate that many talented people are losing their jobs. But they hoisted themselves on their own petard.

Blaming Id for that is strange. They delivered a well-made product that didn't meet sales expectations. Yet here you are faulting them for their firing because they unionized.

This reveals a lot more about Microsoft's moronic corporate culture than it does about Id and unions.

 

[INNocence]

don't care, fire them all, I wouldn't care
let those lazy bums get a new jobs

 

[AJUMP23]

Yet here you are faulting them for their firing because they unionized.

Game didn't sell so that probably gets rid of a lot of the them. Could be the marketing, could be the game. I thought DOOM DA was pretty good. But the Union makes everything more expensive for the parent company so they probably got a far greater culling then they would have if they had not unionized.

 

[Plague Doctor]

They unionize to protect their job security

Fucking white collar unions are a scam lol

It's like believing HR is your friend and there to help you as an employee

Hope former id employees can get a refund on those dues fees.

 

[Dorago]

Dat unionisation surely does wonders

It means you all get fired at the same time and they move your job to China/Mexico/India.

 

[mckmas8808]

Dat unionisation surely does wonders

I'm sure this would have happened with or without a union. The reason the union would exist would be to try to negotiate terms for the cuts. For the most part a union wouldn't be able to stop the layoffs.

 

[Quantum253]

This thread now makes th ID software layoff thread make sense. It's incredibly difficult to unionize smaller companies and keep it. Even big companies like Starbucks will gut your location over it.

 

[mckmas8808]

Yeah I can see the need for a union if you're doing hourly/shift work and/or doing a job that is physically demanding, dangerous, or causes fatigue. And where employees are easily replaceable.

But for skilled white collar salaried employees who work on a computer all day? I don't get it. A competent employer will do almost anything to retain their top talent.

A union in theory is to protect the worker from both a competent and incompetent employer.

Gaf when Id software gets effectively destroyed:

Gaf when it remembers they were unionized:

Goes to show how much GAF hates your everyday worker. A bunch of dudes seem to hate themselves, so they take that pain out on others that are simply looking for respect.

Unions are a terrible thing, if you don't like your job than quit or start your own business then see how the world really works!

Your mindset is a terrible thing you boot-licking corporatist.

 

[PeteBull]

I'm sure this would have happened with or without a union. The reason the union would exist would be to try to negotiate terms for the cuts. For the most part a union wouldn't be able to stop the layoffs.

Its extremly competetive industry, ofc every1 are on the chopping block, especially when under big pub/platform holder.
Just saying studio unionising is first and certain sign its gonna get either major layoffs or total clousure, coz ppl working there unionise coz they know layoffs are coming.
Working in AAA gamedev isnt supposed to be that cushy 0 stress job, its high salary high status job, which comes with its own risk- if u/ur team/whole studio underperforms consequences will happen, its not babysitter or kindergarten teacher job where no matter if u working at 100% of ur limits or only at 70% its "good enough", in AAA gamedev 70% of work capacity doesnt cut it, hell often even 90% doesnt...

 

[balls of snow]

When employees unionize companies hire consultants that tell them what to do to destroy it. Starbucks is going through this now.

I fully support strong employee protections but unions are not the way to achieve this anymore.

Yeah thats the whole plot of Disco Elysium.

 

[AJUMP23]

It means you all get fired at the same time and they move your job to India.

Asha has filed for 5k H1B visas. Which is disturbing. Get rid of your expensive labor pool and bring in a much cheaper labor pool.