Chris Dearing, the former president of Sony Computer Entertainment Europe, expressed his opinion on the massive layoffs in the gaming industry during the latest episode of the My Perfect Console podcast. He talked about the reasons for the layoffs and gave advice to the fired developers.
According to Dearing, the reason for job cuts is not greed. He noted that when he held a managerial position, he increased the number of employees gradually to avoid mass layoffs.
«It is painful. I don’t think it’s greed. I think it’s an over-enthusiasm that has arisen and intensified due to the effects of the pandemic and the subsequent supply chain constraints,” Deering explained.
Chris Deering, former boss of PlayStation, does not believe the recent, widespread layoffs in the games industry derive from corporate greed, and that affected workers should “drive an Uber” or “go to the beach for a year” until things turn around: pic.twitter.com/uXUkNTbXQ5
— Simon Parkin (@SimonParkin) September 10, 2024
The former Sony executive advised those who lost their jobs to «work as an Uber driver, find cheap housing, and go to the beach for a year, but» follow the news. He emphasized that without this, returning to the industry could become even more difficult.
Internet users reacted strongly to Dearing’s words, calling him «unreasonable» and «out of touch with reality». «Is he seriously suggesting that people who may have to support their families should “go live on the beach” or work as Uber drivers?» asks one commenter on Twitter.
According to statistics, In 2023, 10,500 people were laid off in the gaming industry, and this year the number of layoffs has already reached 11,540. The list of companies that have parted ways with their employees is quite long. For example, Rocksteady’s quality control department lost more than half of its employees in the last month, and one employee was fired during his maternity leave. Bungie reduced 220 positions, which is about 17% of its workforce. In January, Microsoft dismissed 1900 developers from Activision Blizzard and Xbox.
Source: 80.lv
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