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2019 continues to be a difficult year for job stability in the sector, with Electronic Arts firing 350 people, primarily in marketing and publishing, as well as in their overseas offices . CEO Andrew Wilson found an internal e-mail to employees saying that the cuts were aimed at "streamlining decision-making in the marketing and publishing departments." I can only hope that there is a similar path that will create new jobs in the affected areas, particularly those in the Japanese and Russian offices of EA, which may be closed down.
The good news is that EA manages at least the layoffs professionally. The severance pay will be paid and they "work with the employees to try to find other roles within the company". Therefore, it is to be hoped that the final number of people lost will be less than the 350 reported. According to sources from Kotaku to EA, layoffs have been pending for some time and a hiring freeze that has lasted for several months. So horrible is losing your job, at least EA is able to do it right. EA also made a statement to Kotaku, noting that the company employs approximately 9,000 people.
This comes shortly after Activision fired 800 massive people just over a month ago, then timidly warned investors that it could "have a negative impact on business," according to Gamespot. We also saw layoffs at major studios, like ArenaNet, Guild Wars 2 studio, and of course the tragedy of Telltale's implosion last year and the sudden loss of all jobs in the studio. The case of Telltale was particularly horrible, as they hired until the company collapsed, leaving displaced workers, unpaid layoffs and lawsuits against the owners.
It is hoped that there will be no more major layoffs for the rest of the year, but I suspect that it is still possible that the situation is getting worse. The sector is narrowing, with even smaller storefronts such as GOG taking away about 10% of their workforce to balance their accounts. While it is not unusual for studios to recruit and fire to meet workforce requirements during development, publishers and distributors who significantly reduce their workforce feel like a symptom of a more serious illness. .
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