article in norwegian:
http://www.dagbladet.no/2008/12/11/k...miljo/4003653/
the company is breaking norwegian law like nothing else.
the LO-concern EL and IT slaughters the work condition of the game company funcom.
people who quit the company claims to have had very long workdays, work during weekends and "red" days, harsh treatment, unpaid overtime, and illegal hiring conditions. the EL and IT concern has got a lot to do.
when i came in here, i saw it was about bad exploitation of young boys and girls. many has gotten sick, and i doubt if we'll ever be able to get them back on their legs again, to say it a little harshly.
they've worked so much, their health has pretty much been destroyed.
and they're only around 30 years old, says Erik Bråten in EL & IT to Dagbladet.
contacted by fiancee:
he was first contacted by a desperate fiancee of a funcom-employed about 2 years ago,
he wondered if everything was as it should be in the company. now Bråten is representing 4 funcom employees, and they have in the course of two years met around 30 members of over 250 funcom-employees to the concern.
in a post to Dagbladet funcom's HR-director Kjetil Vaarlund writes that the company is taking the
reaction from El&IT seriously, and that they are working continously to improve the work conditions.
Dagbladet has talked with several ex-employees in funcom. they tell about work conditions that
ultimately drove them out of the company.
"when i started working for funcom three years ago, it seemed like a very good place to work.
i worked a lot, and had maybe around 1200 overtime hours in 3 years.
inbetween i asked what we got back from all this overtime work, but they weren't certain"
directly from the school bench:
he worked with age of conan in his time at funcom, but wishes to be anonymous for the possibility of a further career in the game business "theodor" came straight from the school bench, and had no previous experience in the game business.
slowly i started to understand that it wasn't entirely right what was happending, they weren't following the norwegian laws of work environment.
when i asked the management about this, they said i had to be happy to work on games,
so i adjusted to it. but i got depressive in the long run.
according to "theodor" funcom didn't push him directly to work overtime-- but the upfordrings were very clear. those who worked the least overtime, was turned into sinners if results
were not met. himself he worked nights and weekends, and before major releases, the work pressure got so large that he collapsed in front of his computer.
then i was sick for a week, after having worked so intensely. i've never been that sick before, says "theodor".
after having researched if the workers rights are after the work environment laws, and talked to his colleagues about this, he was asked in by the management. there he got a lucrative quitter-package if he stopped working the same day, which he agreed to.
harsh treatment:
Osman Keskin is also a previous employee of funcom. he worked on both anarchy online and age of conan.
to begin with i did my job, and got compliments from the management. i was happy with my work. but one day it took a turn for the worse: i asked a few questions, and thats probably the reason for what happened, he says.
Keskin tells that he chose to leave Funcom because he was treated very badly by person in management. as he was being laid off, he claims that lies were spread about him from the management to his earlier co-workers.
i worked on anarchy online, and played that game for several years. it was a joy to work on the game, but if you ask questions, either about what they say to the public, or about something ethical-- there's a lot of strange things going on there-- they turn around very quickly.
even if the whole thing is about if you want to do improve projects you're working on, keskin says.
straight out
if someone shows initiative to get fair treatment, you're kicked out.
thats how its been, thats how its now, Bråten says about why there's so few organized Funcom employees.
every time a new member comes in, we have to go in and stamp out fires. the company is breaking norwegian law like a seasoned criminal. its very difficult to start working when you're standing knee deep in shit, Bråten says.
if you ask questions about management, you've gotten a big problem.
i'm also angry about what they've said to the public about age of conan.
they said that we were going to have things in the game that weren't in the game on launch, but was even written on the back of the casing in the stores, "theodore" says.
Everyone wants to succeed:
Funcom is pretty much alone about being a game developer in norway of international calibre.
both the previous employees and Bråten thinks that this isolated situation could have added to that things got so bad.
"i feel they've gotten away with a lot because of that. they become very protected from many angles, everyone wants them to succeed. thats what i want too, but when they treat people in the way they do, they don't deserve any employees. then its better that someone else takes over, and does it properly instead, says "theodor"
this is a large previous garage-company thats long ago outgrown itself. they simply haven't taught themselves how to operate as managers. funcom isn't small fish anymore, with its hundreds of employees Bråten says.
internationally the game business is known to have tough work conditions, especially when a game closes to release, so-called crunch time. then people work extra hard and late, to get the game ready for the set release date.
the problem with Age of conan is that the game was in "crunch" for almost 3 years.
"they always said there was a milestone on the way, and then the day came when they just
delayed the release date, so we had to continue working.
there is a couple of conditions i really would like to discuss with them. to get an up and running work environment theres two things that needs to be put on the day order. first its work time,
that needs to be cleared up, in addition to work agreements. only on work agreements
we're 100 years behind our time, i get nervous just by looking at what is said by the workers, and what they sign on.
Things have changed
the 2 ex-employees says that its possible to see some changes with Funcom.
i think more people know their rights now, and joins workers unions. its a good thing, i think something has changed within funcom. i've also heard that the employees are not pushed as hard anymore says Keskin.
that changes has happened is clear, and we can thank these guys for that. now we've come inbetween the walls there, and i think it helps. but there's still things that needs to be adjusted,
especially work hours and work agreements. respect and common decency also needs to take a foothold. that others have different meanings than yourself is fundamental-- but it shouldn't lead to unfair treatment. if you show your employees that you take them seriously, you get trust and respect for good leadership. then productivity increases, and people starts to enjoy work, Bråten says.
he thinks that Funcom employees must organize themselves to clean up the conditions
in Funcom, so that the conern doesn't have to micromanage every case.
i don't think anything good comes out of people being pressured to do things, threathened.
things become uncomfortable. if you want your company to succeed, you need happy employees.
they're not slaves or robots. they have lives, families, feelings, and are all human beings.
thats a basis-rule for leadership. if you make them happy, they will work more efficiently.
you should also not lie to them, or your customers, Keskin says.
Funcom has destroyed many both psychically and socially.
it lead to a breakup for me, and there's far worse examples than us. but they don't want to talk about it. they just want to forget it and have no more problems, "theodor" says.
..............
somewhat poor translation by me, but it was a lot to write!
i'll fix it up later.
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