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Geek Culture / EA to lay off employees

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Jess T
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 09:29
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From Kotaku;

Quote: "EA just handed in their financial results for the year's second quarter. Things don't look so hot! This time last year they made $US 22 million, but now? They just lost $US 195 million in three months. And that's in the quarter that saw both Madden and FIFA released! Making things a little bit worse (at least for certain EA employees) is the news that, despite originally calling upcoming job losses as "somewhat routine", EA CEO John Riccitiello has said 350 EA employees will now face the axe, a move he says was a "difficult decision"."


EA Lose Money, Sack A Bunch Of People

Jeku, you safe?

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Kentaree
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 11:18
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I believe they're closing their Chertsey facility (no idea where that it) so there will probably be quite a few jobs lost there

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Jess T
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 11:28 Edited at: 2nd Nov 2007 11:28
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Following the second link on Kotaku gives;

Quote: "The publisher is also consolidating its UK operations with the closure of the Chertsey facility."


So, UK... Maybe London given EA's such a big entity, they can afford it?

Oh, and I forgot to mention in the first post, please, please don't turn this into an EA bashing thread!

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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 14:07
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It's a big company and a harsh market so it was bound to happen sooner or later, just like with all big companies. On the plus side the company survives.

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Kentaree
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 14:33 Edited at: 2nd Nov 2007 14:33
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Plus side? This is EA we're talking about







Just winding Jess up

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Agent Dink
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 15:49
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Wow. Maybe EA isn't the impregnable bastion of marketing, sales, and title releases. They just may be able to be destroyed!

No, actually, this isn't very cool. I feel sorry for those people losing their jobs, but well, maybe EA has learned a lesson. They way they have been buying out and overtaking everyone this last year or so it was bound to catch up with them.

Actually, something similar happened to my dad's old company he worked for. Gorjanc Heatind and Air was just about the best of the best in the Cleveland area. Great employees, reasonable rates, and quality service. Then they bought out a plumbing company and tried to double the company size. Well, that was the wrong move apparently, because slowly the company started dieing. Not enough work for all these employees. Eventually lead to layoffs, the company got smaller, but they had to recover their losses, so they rose prices. It just continued in a downward spiral. Not they have about 8 employees and half of them are being paid to sit around at the shop all day, just so they don't leave the company. The fees they charge for their work are extortionate. It's just all screwed up.

I don't think rapid expansion is the best idea. It's better to do it gradually and slowly to test the water I think. It might work out, it might not, and you never know.

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Nicholas Thompson
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 15:56
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Wow - and just to think, I was looking at the EA offices in Guildford with envious, if not "oo a potential job closer to home", type eyes!

Will steer clear!

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Hobgoblin Lord
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 15:56
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What will probably be funny in this is the people who lose their jobs will go out and start a new company then get bought out by EA in a few years

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Kentaree
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 16:02
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Hobgoblin, I quite doubt that, setting up a studio is lots of work, and needs a vast amount of money, especially when starting with experienced developers.

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CattleRustler
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 16:39
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but wait, the economy is great, its growing at 3.9%...

reality check:
-inflation is 14% (printing money from thin air)
-the dollar is plummeting daily (lowest value since forever), thus...
-gold is at $800/ounce
-oil is approaching $100/barrel
-how much ya paying for gas? milk? bread? anything?
-the mortgage markets (which basically float most of the economy) are in collapse, needing 300 Billion worth of cash injections in the past 2 months to ward off full collapse and depression of markets, all due to predatory sub-prime lending
-as a whole, US households have more debt than savings, ie into the negative values, worse than during the depression in 1920's and 30's
-everything is outsourced to slave labor manufacturing, except of course weapons manufacturing wink wink

it goes on and on. bottom line the middle class cant afford stuff anymore. things like video games are going to go way down the priority list for most people thus hurting companies like EA and others. unfortunately it wont be until its really bad and people cant afford food, let alone their precious "bobbles and trinkets", that they will realize things are very very bad, and that its no accident.

Before you go crying "political post by cr, blah" ask yourself: is it political opinion, or economic point-in-fact?

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Hobgoblin Lord
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 17:02
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I know Ken, jsut pointing out how EA gobbles people up all the time. Though if the people laid off have done some solid work it possible they could acquire some VC to start anew.

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5Louiz
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 19:15 Edited at: 2nd Nov 2007 19:17
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A good thing about working for a competent company is that you are who make it competent anyway. The laid-off employees will have their places out of EA - surely not for the same payment, but they may feel secure.

Here is one experience I have:

The company that I work for passed through problems with overdue payments from customers. I saw many lay-off's and replacements during one month. Everything is fine now, and better than before the crisis. And the company is earning money with more ease. That was an important lesson. Where much money is involved, small fails result in huge losses. Sounds simplistic, but I saw the result of it from close.

The new competent freelancers will surely get a new job soon. Important is to never stop the work.

Cheers.

Actually, "KKK" sounds like laugh in our language. We do not support Ku Klux Klan. I would kill KKK if it was a man. Cheers.
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Digital Awakening
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 19:51
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In Sweden we have laws that state:

1) Last in - First out
2) Last out - First in

It's quite hard to really loose a job here, it's also hard to get employed.

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Jeku
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Posted: 2nd Nov 2007 23:50 Edited at: 2nd Nov 2007 23:52
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I have a few opinions on this:

Firstly, there is *nobody* who is safe 100% from losing their job in this world. If you don't make yourself valuable, or if your job is redundant, then have a backup plan. Thankfully nobody I know has been afflicted by this, but without sounding too modest, I know how to stay valuable.

Also, EA is a public company and must answer to their shareholders, like any other publicly traded company. If there is bloat and the company is losing money, they must balance the books with slashing expenses. That's the name of the game (no pun intended), and nobody is safe from this. I don't see what the big deal is.

This is a cyclical thing that happens at the start of each new console round. People aren't buying as many games because they're waiting for consoles to come down in price, and for PCs to get cheaper. People assume it's because EA is buying companies, etc., but really they must look at all the facts first and know that this is completely normal in any *competitive* industry.

EDIT:

I forgot to add that I still feel like I have a job with security. At my last company, an indie developer, we were not paid and I ended up with nothing but $10k in debt. Is that a better scenario?

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Miguel Melo
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Posted: 3rd Nov 2007 03:44
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I have quite a few old colleagues that are (were?) still at EA Chertesey. Must catch up with them to see what's hapenning...

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Chris K
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Posted: 3rd Nov 2007 11:09
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Quote: "is it political opinion, or economic point-in-fact?"


Political opinion

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Insert Name Here
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Posted: 3rd Nov 2007 13:13
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I thikn when spore begins being sold, EA monetary values will go ^

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Nemesis_0_
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Posted: 6th Nov 2007 19:17
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Quote: "-the dollar is plummeting daily (lowest value since forever), thus..."
Not in canada

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CattleRustler
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Posted: 6th Nov 2007 19:36
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lol, exactly

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