13 replies to this topic

[Jason Clement]

Various sources have indicated that IGN has laid off at least four staff members across IGN and 1UP today, including:

• Matt Leone
• Jack Devries
• Ryan Winterhalter
• Thierry “Scooter” Nguyen

A few of them have even tweeted about it, confirming that it was their last day at IGN/1UP. Sad news for sure, and I hope they're able to recover and find new jobs quickly.

Source: VG247.com

[Elizabeth]

That is a bummer. I hope that they find new jobs too. Always thought Scooter was cool.

[mr.me]

That sucks. What's really stupid is they layoff truly talented people and ruin a good site. 1up used to be good, but now not so much.

[Ludono]

It'd be interesting to hear how they determined who they laid off, the people who were there the shortest? The ones in departments that had extra staff?

[Jason Clement]

It'd be interesting to hear how they determined who they laid off, the people who were there the shortest? The ones in departments that had extra staff?

From what I hear, IGN uses the business model where they eventually lay off those with higher-paying salaries (with the exception of the executives and higher-up staff unless necessary) and hire new people in their place who they can pay less. Essentially, it means that anyone who writes there will probably only do so for 3-4 years before being laid off or moving onto another job unless they're moved to a position of greater authority or serve some other purpose (like those who are video personalities for the site), and even then their job isn't 100% secure.

[DarkCobra86]

Always bad to hear people getting layoff and losing their jobs. In this economy, things are just bad. Hopefully these people will find work elsewhere.

[Ludono]

From what I hear, IGN uses the business model where they eventually lay off those with higher-paying salaries (with the exception of the executives and higher-up staff unless necessary) and hire new people in their place who they can pay less. Essentially, it means that anyone who writes there will probably only do so for 3-4 years before being laid off or moving onto another job unless they're moved to a position of greater authority or serve some other purpose (like those who are video personalities for the site), and even then their job isn't 100% secure.

From a business perspective that makes sense but I can't help but feel that's a really **** move to pull on your veteran writers. One of the many reasons I'd never want to get into journalism as a career, its too uncertain and often very hard to make enough money, let alone find work. Very similar to careers in the entertainment career.

[bink]

From a business perspective that makes sense but I can't help but feel that's a really **** move to pull on your veteran writers. One of the many reasons I'd never want to get into journalism as a career, its too uncertain and often very hard to make enough money, let alone find work. Very similar to careers in the entertainment career.

I don't think it makes sense from a business perspective at all. There is always cost involved with training new hires, and if there is little or no training, there is still cost associated with the "break in period" for new hires. I think they would do better to reward and emphasize quality among employees and provide them job security rather than it be a revolving door.

[Ludono]

I don't think it makes sense from a business perspective at all. There is always cost involved with training new hires, and if there is little or no training, there is still cost associated with the "break in period" for new hires. I think they would do better to reward and emphasize quality among employees and provide them job security rather than it be a revolving door.

Thats very true, but these people don't prepare food at a restaurant they write about videogames. I feel as though the "break in period" as you call it, would be shorter because so many people write about videogames for free I'm sure learning a few things about how to present your article on the site would go rather quickly. Not that I'm calling journalism an "easy" job because GOOD journalism is getting harder and harder to find nowadays thanks largely to the rise of blogs and internet grammar. I just think the costs would be greater by keeping long term writers when its so easy to find people willing to write about games for very little, or free.

[mr.me]

It doesn't make sense at all from a business perspective, since they fire irreplaceable talent and the site turns to garbage. 1up had an amazing podcast called The 1up Show, but they fired the crew that made it, now they have nothing.

[bink]

Thats very true, but these people don't prepare food at a restaurant they write about videogames. I feel as though the "break in period" as you call it, would be shorter because so many people write about videogames for free I'm sure learning a few things about how to present your article on the site would go rather quickly. Not that I'm calling journalism an "easy" job because GOOD journalism is getting harder and harder to find nowadays thanks largely to the rise of blogs and internet grammar. I just think the costs would be greater by keeping long term writers when its so easy to find people willing to write about games for very little, or free.

I do understand your perspective and I think a lot of companies think this way too, hence why people are getting fired and new employees are being hired on at lower salaries. However, I feel that with doing that, you kind of scar your company image since people might start to associate any employment opportunities there as a dead-end road. It's a small moment in the spotlight just to be tossed out like trash and replaced.

Therefore, companies that do that for the sake of saving money might actually LOSE money in the long run (kind of like mr.me said), because people with amazing amounts of talent won't even waste their time at an organization like that; they'll move on to something bigger and better where they know they will be rewarded for the great work that they can put forth.

And from a very personal perspective, I would much rather work my butt off and put in all my time and effort for a company that reciprocates that through their appreciation of their employees. Companies that actually recognize the human capital they have, and nurture and grow those talents, are a rare find and I would jump on the opportunity to work for a place like that. When the company already has a reputation for letting their "seasoned employees" go though, any relationship I would try to build with that organization would already be jaded because of their actions.

[Kezins]

That sucks. What's really stupid is they layoff truly talented people and ruin a good site. 1up used to be good, but now not so much.

I used to work for the 1Up Network. It's gone way downhill in the past few years in my opinion. I think the network is mismanaged personally. Sucks to see more people losing their jobs. It's not easy to find a good paying job in the game industry these days. I guess it's partially like that because there are so many people out there willing to write for free.

[Jason Clement]

I used to work for the 1Up Network. It's gone way downhill in the past few years in my opinion. I think the network is mismanaged personally. Sucks to see more people losing their jobs. It's not easy to find a good paying job in the game industry these days. I guess it's partially like that because there are so many people out there willing to write for free.

Nice! Did you used to write for them? If so, do you have any links to old articles? I'd be very interested in seeing those.

[Kezins]

Nice! Did you used to write for them? If so, do you have any links to old articles? I'd be very interested in seeing those.

I did marketing for the entire network, but wrote articles for Gaming Today (filefront.com), but they went under. They brought the blog back recently, but it's a lot smaller than it used to be. I'd have to dig up some links. I'm not sure if the old articles are even up there anymore.