>> but it's not like you don't have options in this industry... Tech work isn't like coal mining where your health is legitimately at risk on a daily basis, and where the number of alternative options available to the average worker is low to non-existent
>> Anyone who works in tech on one of these salaries, and then turns around to complain about their collective rights...
I worked in the gaming industry and left. I’ve mentored several folks who made similar transitions. Consequently, I have perspective based on those experiences.
I think it’s a fundamental mistake to think that transitioning from the gaming industry into general tech is an easy transition. Most people in the gaming industry have a severe form of professional PTSD due to the expectations around death march development. They have strived for a career in gaming where employers see plenty of potential hires and can pay them less as a result. These people end up with limited financial cushions, burnout and depression. They end up believing their only options are to pick up and move to another gaming shop for shit money and the same working conditions. Stay in this “career” long enough, and you are almost guaranteed health complications related to obesity and drug abuse. Yeah, it ain’t glamorous to stay in gaming, but experience means they’ll be an easy hire at the next company and they’ll be able to continue covering the mortgage.
I am mostly anti-union, but I believe unions are actually necessary in the gaming industry. It is pretty shitty and deserves to feel the pain they’ve been inflicting in their developers, PMs, producers and testers.
The gaming industry should not be seen as a career destination if you aren’t in finance/marketing. It should be a stepping stone in a bigger career, but an extremely short one so devs can learn EVERYTHING THAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO IN PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND SELF-CARE.
>> Anyone who works in tech on one of these salaries, and then turns around to complain about their collective rights...
I worked in the gaming industry and left. I’ve mentored several folks who made similar transitions. Consequently, I have perspective based on those experiences.
I think it’s a fundamental mistake to think that transitioning from the gaming industry into general tech is an easy transition. Most people in the gaming industry have a severe form of professional PTSD due to the expectations around death march development. They have strived for a career in gaming where employers see plenty of potential hires and can pay them less as a result. These people end up with limited financial cushions, burnout and depression. They end up believing their only options are to pick up and move to another gaming shop for shit money and the same working conditions. Stay in this “career” long enough, and you are almost guaranteed health complications related to obesity and drug abuse. Yeah, it ain’t glamorous to stay in gaming, but experience means they’ll be an easy hire at the next company and they’ll be able to continue covering the mortgage.
I am mostly anti-union, but I believe unions are actually necessary in the gaming industry. It is pretty shitty and deserves to feel the pain they’ve been inflicting in their developers, PMs, producers and testers.
The gaming industry should not be seen as a career destination if you aren’t in finance/marketing. It should be a stepping stone in a bigger career, but an extremely short one so devs can learn EVERYTHING THAT YOU SHOULD NOT DO IN PROGRAM MANAGEMENT, EMPLOYEE RELATIONS AND SELF-CARE.