Gameloft Pushing Staff into 120-hr Work Weeks?

[Kaiser_25]

[citation][nom]Necroline[/nom]Since there is only a total of 168 hours in a week I find it rather hard to believe that someone has actually worked close to 90% of that time (and lived to tell about it)./Necroline, Denmark.[/citation]

Ya you have no idea, i work in semiconductor and sometimes ive worked 14 hour days, 7 days a week... and i knew some guys had it worse than that...

 

[yukijin]

i can see 80 hours a week (12 hour days) for a job, its quite sustainable, but after 90+ hours 14 hours a week) ... the body has limits, you know.

 

[need4speeds]

In the picture that's not a shot from a game. It's a picture of a 24yo junior programmer who has worked for "Gameloft" since he graduated from collage last year. It's called accelerated aging from using stimulants and lack of sleep.

Actually that does make people age alot faster.

This is pretty common with term contract jobs and rotational jobs.

These types of companies usually hire workers just out of school or with little experience out of school.

-The workers are burdened with a large student loan to pay off and its usually hard to find a job right out of school. They are basically stuck in a ultimatum.

- The company hires them, then takes advantage of them, telling them they will be fired if they don't look the other way and break a few rules and laws. They know being fired means they wont ever work in that field again and will be forced to go on welfare and declare bankruptcy. Some turn to "stimulant drugs" to work the weird shifts that often go along with term contract jobs and end up being the junkies that litter the cities around the world.
Yes it often ruins people forever.

This happens all around the world, companies hire contract workers using work visa's and by seeking out new employee's at collages, but they are usually careful not to pick collages too close to were their company is located. They know they are going to ruin these workers so they try and not hire anyone who is local.

These kind of companies are in every trade from airlines, mining, oil and gas, medical, any field where they need someone with at least some training and collage to be able to do the job. They ruin many peoples lives and it even results in some actually dieing for real from it.
Some are murdered on the job as well, given suicide tasks to do.

Yes you can die from lack of sleep, eventually if you stay awake long enough you will die, google it it's not bunk. Its pretty rare however but it has happened to people.

 

[jcb82]

[citation][nom]bystander[/nom]This is not surprising. I've talked to a number of game programmers, and it's generally expected for them to work 80 hour weeks. It's easy to see some companies going even further.There was a time I considered the field, but not after hearing how tough it is.[/citation]

I have a degree in Computer Science and I've considered the field as well, but hours like that are not for me. Honestly, having enough off-time is really important, connecting with other human beings is important. I heard the guys who program Gran Turismo have beds under their desks so that they can sleep in the office to meet deadlines. I'm sorry, that's the not the life I envision for myself. No matter what the compensation.

 

[bystander]

[citation][nom]maestintaolius[/nom]Extremely poor management also had a major hand in it. First off, they agreed to the union requests, obviously making the assumption that the good times would always continue, so they're just as guilty of ruining the company as the UAW. Secondly, GM focused heavily on their more profitable large truck/suv division and ignored their small economical cars, so the foreign companies slaughtered them when owning a 10 mpg vehicle as a commuter was a stupid idea for the average consumer.[/citation]

There may have been a reason that they didn't focus on cheap compact cards...they couldn't be competitive in pricing with their overpriced labor.

Chevy is making their first compact car in the US now, with the union allowing them to higher non union workers, they can now be competitive.

 

[bystander]

cards = cars
higher = hire
The car is the Sonic.

 

[Anaxamenes]

Oh look, another example of why unions are needed. They are necessary when companies take advantage of their employees in such a manner, which often happens during economic downturns. Nice choice of picture!

 

[eddieroolz]

This is brutal and perhaps the reason why a lot of people are turned off from becoming a software engineer. I'm already entrenched in the path so I can't change, but this is deja vu of the conditions of the working class in the 1800s.

 

[Guest]

After reading this, I'm just glad I get my 50k€/y with 35h weeks (programming & tech support in ERP business). Some overtime would be nice now and then but the companies can't afford it and really don't need to here. 7h days keep me motivated to come back the next day too.

And my opinion of unions is that they are only useful in case of unemployment; the fees they collect are used to pay to the unemployed for are period on unemployment (usually 70% of the paycheck you used to receive, max. 500 days or until you get a new job). No fear of dreams crashing (at least instantly) in that case. Yearly fees are in range of 100-600€, not too bad of a insurance cost.

 

[aaron88_7]

It's amazing how people talk about how terrible these working conditions are, but then the minute someone mentions how to fix the problem with a union that person gets flamed. What a bunch of morons some people are!

You can repeat fox news talking points all you want but the fact of the matter is that unions protect jobs as well as promote safe and effective working conditions, but not when they are implemented voluntarily. That is why current union so have so much corruption, they can't compete if the business next door is allowed by law to withhold healthcare or decent pay in order to cut costs.

As for competing with other countries, that's what tariffs are for. It's no surprise the very same people killing unions are promoting free trade with 3rd world countries where the people work for pennies. If you want to know why America has lost its manufacturing base it's not because of unions, it's because we have unfair free trade deals with countries like China that have borderline slaves working in their factories.

That's why unions need to be required by law and tariffs set for countries that have questionable working conditions.

Now let the flaming commence from the Fox news fans....

 

[aaron88_7]

[citation][nom]sykozis[/nom]Yeah,...just look at how great UAW did for GM. They were directly responsible for GM filing bankruptcy. Due to Union demands. UAW is the reason there is no longer a Ford F-Series assembly plant in Norfolk, Va. Unions serve no purpose but to damage companies financially.[/citation]
I'm not defending UAW but GM filed bankruptcy because they built sh*t vehicles that could only be sustained in a thriving economy with low gas. American manufacturers have been taken a beating by Honda and Toyota because they produce fuel efficient quality vehicles that people want.

More importantly, unions need to be kept in check just as much as the companies they claim to protect. Most unions are bloated with unnecessary management that leads to corruption. Requiring all companies to unionize would be a good time to also require strict union laws to reduce corruption.

Again, too many people jump to the extremes and think either you have to allow employers to manage slave labor or let bloated unions take over the market. Neither of these extremes are rooted in any sort of reality and is nothing more than meaningless political jabber.

 

[palladin9479]

actually, a no compete. its part of many contracts for anyone who works anything higher than janitor, sales rep, or assembly line.

basically is means you cant join a competing business for XX long, my dad has one for i believe 2 1/2 years after leaving he cant get work in the field he was trained if he leaves. its different if he is let go from budget constraints, but if he leaves himself, or is fired for poor work, it would be 2 1/2 years of waiting.

They put that clause in but it's non-enforceable and is generally thrown out in court. Its like the long a$$ EULA's we supposedly "accept", half of what's inside it is legally useless, but they put it in anyway just to scare people off. Contract law requires that a contract be not only acceptable to both sides but that it be conscionable to both sides (in the best interest of). A "no compete" clause is generally considered "Unconscionability" and never in the best interest of the employee, especially it the employee can present evidence that there was negative working conditions that forced the employee to terminate his/her employment.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Unconscionability

Now while Unconscionability usually isn't enough to get a contract nullified, in the case of an employment "no compete" clause it is. It would be like Apple including a line saying "by clicking agree you hereby agree to only purchase approved Apple products and upon termination of use of your Apple product agree not to purchase a competitors product for a period of 2 years".

 

[Guest]

OMG! Man up! Where's ur balls! They are PAYING YOU TO WORK! $$$ And Im sure these guys aint hurting in the wallet !

 

[killerclick]

Look Unions are good because they give workers power. Companies left alone would just push workers to produce more and get paid less under progressively worse conditions. Just because workers in China tolerate this (they have to) doesn't mean the Civilized World should follow.

Now when Unions get too much power, they tend to ruin companies. So as in most things, the answer is balance.

Is it better to have an Union siphoning away some of the profits to improve worker's conditions? Or to have a revolution every 50 years where all business leaders and wealthy people will be killed?

 

[killerclick]

[citation][nom]secolliyn[/nom]did you read the article? I'm guessing not as they mention nothing about this studio being in the US at all. I'm just saying if you are really going to comment on an article please read it. And for gods sake if you don't understand it don't comment[/citation]

Did you read my message? Where did I mention the US? What does the US have with hiring offshore Indian programmers?

 

[Dantte]

[citation][nom]sh4dow83[/nom]and who are you? kid? student? unemployed?unless you've worked in the field and know how competitive it is, you need to shut up![/citation]
Thx for the permission to speak...

I am 30 years old, I do work in the field and I couldnt recall how many times I've walked out of work at the end of the day laughing at my supervisor as he tells me i need to work late with the comment "fire me then!"

I have been fired before, I drive a 12 year old car now, sold my $350K house for a $120K house, sold my motorcycle and 4 wheel. Havent gone on vacation in 3 years... Simple fact is, this is happening cause they let them.

I say again, GROW A SET AND QUIT IF YOU DONT LIKE IT!

 

[Dantte]

I would rather be home with my family and happy, just making the bills, then be miserable with a big house, all the toys in the world, and no time to enjoy 1 of them.

I work to live, i do not live to work!

 

[spookyman]

And you wonder why the movie industry has so many unions. You want to act? You need to be in the Actors Guild. You want to write Screenplays...you need to be in the Screen Writers Guild. These unions protect the interests of the workers.

The gaming industry needs this kind of union. Just think a video game Union for its workers?

 

[eiskrystal]

(Shrug)

The staff need to get together and say no. I see little point in caring about a job, where the company is obviously already going under.

"Multiple unnamed sources stepped up to say that Gameloft can request staff to work "reasonable hours" without remuneration."

Except that isn't reasonable hours so any point regarding this is instantly moot and the managers can be kicked in the balls as punishment.

 

[azgard]

[citation][nom]dgingeri[/nom]Unfortunately, here in the US, "skilled technical" workers can be employed as salary workers, and can have overtime forced on them. Most of the time, though, they don't abuse that. Some do. Turnover is usually pretty high at companies like that.As contractors, though, they can be employed on a "deliverables" system. I was doing repairs for Dell for about a week as a contractor. The company employing me would give me $15 for each service call they sent me. The first day, they sent me on 4 LCD replacements for laptops. Each repair took over an hour because they didn't include the screen bezel with the LCD. (Taking the freaking bezels off those things is both long and painful. I ended that day with 9 cuts on my fingers in various places from the plastic. I had to clean my blood off every one of those laptops before giving them back, taking more time.) With travel and prep time, I made about $5.20 per hour. I ended with week making about $6 per hour, but I had also used two tanks of gas at my expense, so my final take home pay was closer to $2 per hour. I made a total of $78 for that week after expenses. This was in 2004. Like I said, I quit after a week. If you don't let them take advantage of you, they can't get away with it. Just walk away. that's the best way to get it to stop.[/citation]

That's actually a fairly common misconception, for the most part only management is truly exempt from overtime pay.