"EA spouse" speaks out!

by James Ransom-Wiley { Nov 14th 2004 at 9:56AM }

sweatshop

Check out this livejournal entry from a "disgruntled spouse" of an Electronic Arts employee. And you thought the worst sweatshops were in Mumbai...

[Thanks, CJ]

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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

K Johnson @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM

Come on, that's just tasteless. We all know worker rights are dubiously respected in many industries, but comparing the exploitation skilled software engineers with a house, a family and a nice car to the exploitation of third world citizens working for next to nothing?

Usually Joystiq knows where not to push it. But you totally crossed the line of decency on this one. I vote the article be taken down and replaced.

Matt @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM

What I think you're going to see is a union develop for artists, programmers, etc. Similar to how it is in the 'other' entertainment industry (Tv, music, film).

However, that won't stop the long hours as it's a simple matter of entertainment life. If you don't put in the 12-14 hour days, there's 20 people right behind you that will.

I've worked in entertainment as an assistant in script development and it was the norm to get to work at 8am and not leave until 9pm or 10pm at night - though we did get paid overtime and 'golden time'. Just an example of the video game industry 'growing up' and most likely following inclusion into the overall entertainment umbrella (and how it works - good and bad..)

ancil anthropy @ Dec 18th 2005 9:58PM

i agree that while parallels can be drawn between the exploitation of workers in the software industry and the exploitation of workers in the global south, this comparison - particularly as bolstered by the photograph - is unpermissable. i strongly urge joystiq to at least remove the photo.