44 replies to this topic

[coolrocker]

hi people.

we share about outstation offices getting shutdown and worried about games we are not going to get ..same thing happen today in Hyd

yes it really happened and i wont be posting any link bcz no one will cover this.

gameloft hyd " where i learned everything about gaming "and made new friends of this industry.Closed its office today under 1 day notice.


Its just a simple story ,gameloft HQ decided to close india office and today India office (Hyd) was shutdown under 1 day notice and each staff over 400 people was asked to leave office and not to come from tommorow bcz HQ felt.

Just to mention in india we do quality testing for handheld games which are used majorily across World .
Lot of people in india from gaming industry who use to bring quality games to us are jobless now.

Majorily testers and developers who are freshers from this industry has to start fresh search for there living.

i Just pray they get good job ..

hope people will avoid my english on this and will comment some thing more suitable.


and yeah i am waiting for some special comment from some special guy who knew about this all long...Sir i believe now u will comment

[R a g h u]

That's sad />

I thought they were doing pretty good. Is it true that the employees were asked to sign a form stating that they were resigning voluntarily due to personal problems??

Edited by R a g h u, 30 January 2013 - 09:43 AM.

[Paapi]

The gamasutra account of this is more accurate ... http://www.gamasutra...ipX7_Sw_athough I guess number of employess might not be 250 now... but not sure

[Sackboy]

That's sad

Is the industry really in that bad shape?

Edited by Sackboy, 30 January 2013 - 11:18 AM.

[Rock Lee]

That is sad. They are asking people to sign those pathetic documents to circumvent the Indian Labor laws which prohibit mass firing in such a short time.

[Wolfy]

No severance package, notice period etc?

[Animus]

Anyone hit by the layoff can conatct me.

Jobs at Ubisoft Pune

1. Junior Score Designer
2. Associate Producer
3. Intern 2D Artist
4. Data/ Build/ Release Engineer
5. Intern Game Designer
6. Intern - 3D Artist
7. Intern Technical Artist
8. Technical Director – Mobile Gaming
9. Senior 3D Game Artist
10.Senior Recruiter
11.Senior 3D ANIMATOR
12.C++ Game programmer
13.Senior Game Programmer - Android

Concerned persons can contact me on asad.mukri@ubisoft.com. Further details will be communicated via mail.

[Paapi]

Two things:The comment in Gamasutra which says

"India's labor laws have their roots in the British raj and were last fully updated in the Industrial Disputes Act of 1948. They prohibit companies with more than 100 employees from making positions redundant and firing people for any cause other than criminal misconduct. An additional 45 national laws intersect or derive from the 1948 act, and about 200 state laws control the relationships between employees and employers"


this is not entirely correct here because  IT and software companies (under which Gameloft was also registered) are not covered by these laws.

Infosys/TCS fired many of its employees last year and nothing happened.

Secondly, Industry is not in that bad shape.. it is about cost cutting or saving on operating costs.. when the same work can be done in Philippines, malaysia, indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the cost is substantially less, companies will always prefer those locations...Remember the call center jobs shifting from US to India.. its the same reason.. Normally when a studio runs into losses or is no longer profitable is is sold but in case of companies like gamloft this solution is not vialble because when you sell studio you also sell IPs and not just man power.. here these is only man power, no buyer will ever get his hands on the IPs

Edited by Paapi, 30 January 2013 - 11:58 AM.

[HundredProofSam]

At 2:00 all employees were informed of a company-wide meeting 45 minutes later, where HR and studio manager Sarang Nafdey explained the bad news.

That's IVG member Udham.

I'd like to cover this news, so anyone who worked from Gameloft and is affected by this, please PM me.

[Shantz]

f**k Gameloft.. I'll never buy any of their games and make sure that no one in my family does.

[Rock Lee]

Udham

[Choron ka raja]

Two things:The comment in Gamasutra which says

"India's labor laws have their roots in the British raj and were last fully updated in the Industrial Disputes Act of 1948. They prohibit companies with more than 100 employees from making positions redundant and firing people for any cause other than criminal misconduct. An additional 45 national laws intersect or derive from the 1948 act, and about 200 state laws control the relationships between employees and employers"


this is not entirely correct here because IT and software companies (under which Gameloft was also registered) are not covered by these laws.

Infosys/TCS fired many of its employees last year and nothing happened.

Secondly, Industry is not in that bad shape.. it is about cost cutting or saving on operating costs.. when the same work can be done in Philippines, malaysia, indonesia, Vietnam, Thailand and the cost is substantially less, companies will always prefer those locations...Remember the call center jobs shifting from US to India.. its the same reason.. Normally when a studio runs into losses or is no longer profitable is is sold but in case of companies like gamloft this solution is not vialble because when you sell studio you also sell IPs and not just man power.. here these is only man power, no buyer will ever get his hands on the IPs

IT industry is covered by these laws too. Sadly, they ask you to join the organization as a partner instead. Read up the agreement document you signed at your job, it will list you as an associate. This is also the reason, they can give you a performance bonus and call it profit share legally.

Secondly, what you just said, describe a bad shape. Soon enough, most jobs will move to other countries, and we will have only our country as a consumer. And I don't think I need to tell you, what kind of sh*t will happen then, considering people here are practically immune to technological advances.

[VelivolusDas]

Really sad.... Hoping those guys get through somewhere else at least.... Also, kudos to Animus.... Try and post that on a few other places as well......

[Choron ka raja]

quick question. if you are told that you have to give your resignation or else you will be fired. what will you do?

now, if your answer is the same as those 250 employees, feel free to be sad. or else, just think how much bad this dumbassery will do to help the blatant screwing of labor laws.

[achilles]

Employees in India are treated like absolute sh*t. Not offering a severance package or exit clause is evil. No two ways about it. You can't treat people because of whom you've been making money all this while like drivel.

OP mentions someone knew about this for sometime. If I'd have been them, I would have tried to get the word out. Worst case what would Gameloft have done, fire me?

[Ram Dante]

A friend of my friends got affected in this, heard he got a 2months severance package. This is so sad indeed!

[VelivolusDas]

Honestly, I'm not too sure about how IT/Gaming companies work or if they have separate laws or not, but aren't there any ethical codes or something that the company must follow? I understand that the company shutting down is not something that anyone can predict, but shouldn't there be clauses in the joining contract/agreement explaining what would happen if the company shuts down?

[GameJobs]

This is very sad news indeed. There is an opening in my company. For more info and application instructions please see HERE

[Paapi]

IT industry is covered by these laws too. Sadly, they ask you to join the organization as a partner instead. Read up the agreement document you signed at your job, it will list you as an associate. This is also the reason, they can give you a performance bonus and call it profit share legally.

Not entirely correct but can't debate on this for now..

Edited by Paapi, 30 January 2013 - 12:57 PM.

[cat]

250 ppl jobs lost

[achilles]

Wait, 2 month severance was offered? That's not too bad then.

[spindoctor]

OP mentions someone knew about this for sometime. If I'd have been them, I would have tried to get the word out. Worst case what would Gameloft have done, fire me?

A few days ago I read a story about a married couple who both worked at THQ. Due to her position, the wife apparently knew about what was happening regarding the company declaring bankruptcy but the husband didn't and she was not allowed to tell him. She had to lie to him about why she was working overtime for weeks and just imagine how the husband must have felt when he found out. Point being, there are implications to these things and it's not always black and white. Direct your ire towards the assholes at Gameloft who made this decision, not those who were forced to implement it. We all have to do things in our jobs that we don't like to do.

Edited by spindoctor, 30 January 2013 - 01:17 PM.

[Animus]

Really sad.... /> Hoping those guys get through somewhere else at least.... Also, kudos to Animus.... Try and post that on a few other places as well...... />

ty..posted on FB too https://www.facebook...01&notif_t=like

[AtheK]

Well so many of you are here in colleges i guess, but this is how it works not only in India but Abroad also. Layoff are a part and parcel of this Industry. Yahoo, Microsoft, Oracle, Motorola, Hp, Infosys, TCS all do it, and abroad as well. I personally know a lot of people who have gone through this including my immediate family members. Severance pay is offered, and i think it has been done here too as per the post above.

Stop bringing morality in this, it has no place in the corporate world. I feel really bad for the guys who knows tomorrow i might be a victim too, but there is nothing you can do. The offer clearly states that the organisation is free to ask you to go anytime by asking you to either serve the notice period or give you that period salary. It is the same as you resign a lot of people do not serve the notice period but pay the company, so even they are not morally correct.

Being 10 years in IT industry, i have seen good and worse, and this is a part of being in this field. India is no more a cost effective place for companies to operate, salaries have grown leaps and bounds, resorting the companies to look at cutting cost. Lot of jobs from India are going to be cut short because of this.

So when a lot of you will get out of your gaming world and out of your parents protection, you will realize ife is not roadies and splitsvilla, it is a bad bad world out there.

[Choron ka raja]

Not entirely correct but can't debate on this for now..

I am the idiot who read 10 page agreement document down to every line, even asked for corrections in them before signing. did that for two jobs, got both of them to change the actual agreement document to my satisfaction. believe me, there is a clause which state you as an associate, legally. I can even refer you to one of my friend's wife who works in legal department for an IT company. So, unless you want to debate, I feel I stand corrected.


Also, do you know, all companies ask you to sign that any work done even during off time or weekend is considered company's IP? And the fact, that you can ask for corrections and sign a new agreement in case you have issues with original one?



Regarding this situation, well if they get severance package, it is non-issue. The point of severance package is to actually allow firing like this. It shouldn't feel bad, as you get salary for next few months, that you might need to find a job.

Edited by Choron ka raja, 30 January 2013 - 02:08 PM.

[Rock Lee]

OP mentions someone knew about this for sometime

Hint: His name is mentioned here. Though we or anyone cant blame him as there is 100% chance that he came to know at the last moment as well.

EDIT: All is well and good if severence package is offered. HOWEVER, they asked them to sign that they are leaving voluntarily and not fired, THIS IS MORALLY WRONG.

Edited by The_Rock, 30 January 2013 - 02:15 PM.

['Drake']

agreed with athek +1 bro

[Irredeemable]

Well so many of you are here in colleges i guess, but this is how it works not only in India but Abroad also. Layoff are a part and parcel of this Industry. Yahoo, Microsoft, Oracle, Motorola, Hp, Infosys, TCS all do it, and abroad as well. I personally know a lot of people who have gone through this including my immediate family members. Severance pay is offered, and i think it has been done here too as per the post above.

Stop bringing morality in this, it has no place in the corporate world. I feel really bad for the guys who knows tomorrow i might be a victim too, but there is nothing you can do. The offer clearly states that the organisation is free to ask you to go anytime by asking you to either serve the notice period or give you that period salary. It is the same as you resign a lot of people do not serve the notice period but pay the company, so even they are not morally correct.

Being 10 years in IT industry, i have seen good and worse, and this is a part of being in this field. India is no more a cost effective place for companies to operate, salaries have grown leaps and bounds, resorting the companies to look at cutting cost. Lot of jobs from India are going to be cut short because of this.

So when a lot of you will get out of your gaming world and out of your parents protection, you will realize ife is not roadies and splitsvilla, it is a bad bad world out there.

+1. I used to think in emotional terms till my first boss screwed me out of a salary hike.

Spoiler

I was working onsite and was hearing good things from my Bangalore offices management every day in team calls. My boss, on many occasions used to tell me the project would nt have worked out without me. I felt proud. Come appraisal day, I was told I was getting a 2% hike whereas my offsite counter parts would be getting 15% hike. I asked why, and got told it was because the offsite team was putting in more working hours than me, which essentially meant they would sit in office till 9, check emails and chat with friends. Free internet, free AC. My blood boiled when I found out it was actually a 25% hike they were giving to people who didnt even know basics of programming.

I found another job in a months time, and gave a 2 day notice period, even though my offer letter asked for a 1 month notice period. I hadn't checked in my 2 weeks worth of work to the central repo. I hit Shift+Delete on the folder, and got out of there after 2 days. "If you leave now, we will not be able to pay your one month salary" they said. "Im not asking you to pay my salary, kindly relieve me of my duties here so I can pursue other opportunities" I wrote back.

Ive never been laid off so far, but Im sure there is a lot of tension that arises out of such situations. Some people have committed to home loans and things like that. I always advice younger people than me to save for a rainy day. IT industry is very unpredictable. Your dad and my dad might have worked in the government where a job was guaranteed, but in private companies, I would advice to never take your job for granted. Make money while you can, spend little, save more, create an alternative income for yourself and try to live a peaceful life devoid of tension.

Like a wise man once said "In peace make preparations for war".

Edited by Irredeemable, 30 January 2013 - 02:49 PM.

[dranjithk]

Exactly an year ago, a major company took over the company I was working in and then shut the doors tight. Motive? Just to kill the competition! There was a town-hall meet where the CEO of the parent org described us as "extraneous cost".
Well, like Athek put it, "It's a bad world out there!" No remorse, whatsoever! Frankly put, the unit I was working in was making profits in millions of USD every single quarter!!

Edited by dranjithk, 30 January 2013 - 03:23 PM.

[DinJo]

I have seen layoffs 3-4 years in my last 8 years can say 2007 year was worst people literally cried when signing resignation first time is scary and its more scary since you never know when your number will come but its a part of life keep working and moveon when you know its your turn