The Hypocrisy of Those Against Layoffs Yet Engaging in Them

[AlwaysBrotoMen]

The Public Outcry Against Layoffs: In the age of social media and heightened awareness of labor rights, there has been a noticeable surge in public condemnation of companies that resort to layoffs as a cost-cutting measure. Employees and consumers alike have become more vocal in expressing their disapproval of such practices, often organizing boycotts, online campaigns, and petitions to hold companies accountable. The sentiment against layoffs is fueled by empathy for affected workers, as well as a broader critique of corporate greed and disregard for employee well-being.

Corporate Virtue Signaling: Amidst this backdrop of public scrutiny, many companies within the video game industry have sought to position themselves as champions of employee welfare and ethical business practices. They issue statements affirming their commitment to their workforce, emphasizing values such as inclusivity, diversity, and work-life balance. Such virtue signaling serves to cultivate a positive public image and maintain consumer trust, especially in an industry where brand perception can significantly impact sales and market share.

The Discrepancy Between Rhetoric and Reality: However, the disconnect between these lofty declarations and the harsh realities faced by employees during periods of layoffs exposes a glaring hypocrisy within the industry. While companies may preach about their dedication to their staff, the decision-makers often prioritize short-term financial gains over long-term employee stability. Layoffs are frequently justified as necessary measures for restructuring, downsizing, or adapting to market conditions, but the human cost is often downplayed or overlooked entirely.

The Cycle of Hypocrisy: What makes this hypocrisy particularly egregious is the recurrence of layoffs within companies that publicly condemn such actions. Some of the most vocal proponents of employee rights have themselves engaged in mass layoffs, revealing the stark contrast between words and deeds. This cycle perpetuates a culture of distrust and disillusionment among both employees and consumers, eroding the credibility of corporate messaging and fueling skepticism towards industry practices.




https://www.neogaf.com/threads/cdpr-is-unionizing-after-post-cyberpunk-2077-layoffs.1662168/

What do you think about these companies like Larian ? Are they making fool of us or will they keep up their word ?

 

[Melcar]

Corporations are beholden to shareholders. Employees are only tools to get the job done. Always been that way. Sad reality. It has just gotten a lot worse due to extreme competition in the global market.

 

[AlwaysBrotoMen]

Now all youtube champions have heralded Larian as the savior of video game industry.

 

[thesecret1]

Literally nothing wrong with layoffs. Companies exist to create profit, not to create employment. That this even needs to be said speaks volumes about the retardation of the people out there. Next, they'll compain that bad weather is inherently immoral because it affects the homeless more negatively than the 1%.

 

[Melcar]

Everyone wants job security and a nice retirement fund, and in an ideal dream world you would get it. Corporations are not required to give you any of those, or even smaller mom and pop operations. The individual worker must be responsible for his own security and well being. Save, invest, harden your profesional portfolio (gain experience, take courses, learn as much as you can) is what you should do. If you want handouts move to a socialist shithole and experience all the problems that entails.

 

[Saduj]

Corporations are beholden to shareholders. Employees are only tools to get the job done. Always been that way. Sad reality. It has just gotten a lot worse due to extreme competition in the global market.

That's all true. But another problem is that many executives, especially CEOs, have their incentives tied to making the next quarterly numbers because that is what most affects the stock price. The weakness in this is that it leaves no room for long term, strategic decisions. Every decision in these companies is made looking no more than 3 months ahead because that is what the person is charge is being paid to do. I work for myself now but my previous employer was a company exactly like this. They desperately needed to upgrade the proprietary software platform that was the backbone of the entire business but doing so would cause short term pain. So instead they continued to milk what they could out of it until the inevitable happens. They had to sell out to Blackstone, who foolishly bought them not understanding the business at all. They've gone from an industry leader with a sterling reputation to a low cost service provider with a reputation for poor service. They rely heavily on Indian subcontractors at this point. Blackstone rebranded the company, did an unsuccessful "IPO" and washed their hands of the whole thing. They are still limping along but the death of the company is inevitable at this point.

 

[Cat Headed Eagle]

There's tons of literature about how training an employee you already have is more profitable than hirign a new one and go from scratch with their training, but CEOs and the like run these companies like it's a pedophile trying to launder their funds. And you know it's most likely true.

 

[NaturallyCarnivorousSheep]

The game industry is overinflated since the pandemic, a good example that I brought up elsewhere is Riot Games which went from about 2000 people in 2019 when outside of their main project(LoL) they were also in active development of Valorant, to 5000 by late 2023 when they weren't in full production of anything, just maintaining their existing GaaS.

Also the layoffs happen as we're in 4th year of an economic crisis that has more people working to hide it than to fix it.

 

[n0denz]

snip

The corporation cries out in pain as it lays you off.