Plus he is making some outrageous assumptions.

Thank you Eonjay! I can't believe people instantly defend companies for evil.

Quote:
if Telltale has the money to finish The Walking Dead, they have the money to pay their workers severance pay.

Another quote:
developers' rights as workers, has railed against Telltale: "This is disgusting," they said. "Pay your 250+ previous employees' severance."

He's referring to a study when he gets into math in his post.

It sucks whenever someone is fired no doubt but I figured i should point that part out.

He's not stating that three fourths of the workers are lazy bro. He's saying that 50% of the primary workload distribution is handled by one fourth of the employees when a company gets too big.
It's just statistical discrepancy between employee workload :)

Basically, the best people in any given section of the development process, gets more to do because, well, they're the best :P

🙄

Having mouths to feed doesn't mean you get severance pay. Most people who get fired or laid off don't get severance.

Additionally, the only way this is continuing is through outside money, not profit or internal funds. It's likely from people who own the IP and licensed it to the company and they are funding it just to continue the work on their IP, not anything else. So, why should outside money used to maintain the IP go to severance, it wasn't money the company earned or money aimed at paying people but ensuring the survivability of the IP only.

I get people lost jobs, but this is no different than 99% of the rest of the jobs that people lose. Do people think the 2,000 people who lost jobs from AT&T got severance packages? No, they didn't. And the only reason those people lost their jobs was so AT&T could look better on paper, not for any other reason (they made profit).

This is the world of capitalism we live in. People confused that this is how it works need to face reality. You can't benefit from it one day and then complain about it the next. If you don't want to live in a capitalist market, then change it.

@Christopher
I wonder how the US works sometimes when it seems fine to treat your general workforce like sh** and it's just accepted. Here in the UK if your job is no longer available to you through no fault of your own, you're entitled to redundancy (severance pay) even if the company goes bankrupt (into administration).

***I wonder how the US works sometimes when it seems fine to treat your general workforce like sh** and it's just accepted. Here in the UK if your job is no longer available to you through no fault of your own, you're entitled to redundancy (severance pay) even if the company goes bankrupt (into administration).***

Which is why I said: "This is the world of capitalism we live in. People confused that this is how it works need to face reality. You can't benefit from it one day and then complain about it the next. If you don't want to live in a capitalist market, then change it."

Fact is, I don't agree with these policies, but I'm not ignorant enough to understand how the real world works. Complaining about it only when it adversely affects you doesn't change anything. If you want to see change, you need to live it each day and act for it. The wife and I are heavy promoters of unions in our state, she even worked for a company that was aimed at providing services for unions, I do pro-bono work for them. But if she gets laid off, we're not going to complain about the lack of severance pay. I know how it works (I'm a contractor, she's an at will employee), and it's not changed yet. If people didn't care about it for the hundreds of thousands of jobs that people lose every year, they're not going to care about it for the 200+ here.

As far as developers, I really hope this encourages more and more people to get behind unionizing writers, artists, and coders into their own unions within the industry. Until that happens, this will continue to be what will happen and whining about it after it happens to you won't suddenly change it. It needs to be something you live every day.

https://twitter.com/gamewor...

@ginganinja
In the US the employee has plenty of power, and severance pay is something that would be negotiated as part of a contract. If you don't offer enough value to sign a contract, that isn't the companies fault.

Besides, all employers pay payroll taxes that in part are to cover the unemployment pay an employee who loses their job is entitled to. There's a reason why the overwhelming majority of European countries (including the UK) have 2/3 the GDP per capita that the US does. Because of policies like the one you're endorsing.

For all anyone knows, Telltale kept those employees for as long as they could. Would the employees have been better off if they were fired two months ago with 'severence pay?' Unlikely.

@rainslacker
Actually, you have it backwards. The EU and the UK take power from the employee by dictating the terms of their employment to the employer. As a result, the employee cannot make those decisions for themself, and cannot decide what type of employment or benefits most appropriately fulfill their needs.

While I think you are right about t hey shjould be given it, mainly because they could have let their employees know about the closure with enough lead time otherwise since you don't just decide one day to shut down. The truth is is that severance is not actually a right afforded in the US. Apparently there are laws saying notice need be given if the lay off are over a certain amount, but the current lawsuit will probably go nowhere, because by the time it ever goes to court, even preliminary hearings, the company will already be liquidated and there won't be anyone left to sue. In cases like this, the investors will be paid, maybe some execs, although there are laws about that, but the staff has to jump through hoops to get any compensation.

The big question the courts have to decide is if TT is responsible for.paying these employees, and there is apparently legislation for the number of people you can lay off at one time.

Sadly a class action lawsuit will benefit the lawyers more than those being represented, and I'm not sure if it really will.mean much to continue on with a case for a defunct compamy

@mav

I.hadnt considered it from that perspective. But in comparison the US isn't much better for most jobs. There is this false premise that the employees have some say, but in most states, they really have little rights. Most rights revolve around preventing harassment, and making sure that any due compensation is paid, along with things like disability or medical leave type stuff.

So while I see it from your perspective, it does still seem like there is more emotes protection in the eu, which I think can be a fair trade off compared to here.

I suppose on things like this though, it's probably more a matter of perspective on ones current situation. For instance, a part time hourly worker is going to have a different view than a full time well paid executive.

In practice though, it seems laws like this most protect the lazy, while good workers tend to just do good work and not worry about things to much.

Not that I really wish to go too off topic on that stuff now though

I would wager a lot of their employees were contract employees which typically aren't eligible for unemployment. Unemployment in most states is paid from an insurance fund that the employer pays directly to the state. Companies don't typically pay this on contract labor.

My wife owns a small business. She does have contract employees. Admittedly I don't know about other states, but in Illinois she has to carry unemployment insurance on all of her employees, even those that are contracted.

I honestly think they grew too fast, and never scaled back to something more appropriate. May be not enough contract labor for slower times. Coupled with slower sales and a few duds in their releases makes for a company that was bleeding money.

For the most part, games like theirs could be made with about 50 or so people. Maybe have another 20 to 30 for office administration and handling their publishing stuff. Then just have temporary contract workers for times when they had more work to take care of.