"crunch time" in CG

[radii]

I have just stumbled onto the forum/thread that started the class action lawsuit against EA because of unpaid overtime.

http://www.livejournal.com/users/ea_spouse/274.html?page=1#comments

( very long thread but interesting)

The hours these people are pulling are just insane. Working hours during crunch time are from 8am to 2am, 6 days a week minimum and lasting for 6 months ? Crazy.

I am now wondering how conditions are in other CG fields such as film and arch viz. Neoscape for example states that creativity is not a 9 to 5 job. How does Dbox and other "big" viz-firms handle this subject ?

The long and unpaid overtime hours seem to be common in the architecture field. Vinoly's people in NYC, the vast majority without kids, are doing an average of 60 hours a week, all on salary.

Comments are much appreciated.

[fred_bock]

I never worked in a 9 to 5 job, as a drawer, 3d modeler, video editer, you just cant do it !!!

[STRAT]

i'm in employment in a firm of architects, so i work a normal 37.5 hour week.

 

i havent worked overtime in months, and i'm not expected to either unless the deadline calls for it, which is rare. but when i do work OT it's unpaid. i've not got a problem with that as my employer has an excellent working regime where there's allot of give and take involved. we have a very nice working environment here.

[mps_]

I'm lucky at the moment as I only work 8am -5-30pm at the latest, and currently no weekends. That may change in the coming few months. I sometimes take work home and complete it there but thats kinda different to doing it stuck in the work office, wishing you could go home!

 

I feel for the guys at EA etc. I'd love to get into games, and with a huge UK Sony Computer Entertainment Europe department only 20 minutes drive from myself its always on my mind as I drive the additonal half hour past the building to get to my current job. Sadly I'm too old to ignore my family and friends and unless things change I'm not about to go jumping into a 60hr week. PS I have no idea what the working hours/conditions are for Sony so I'm not saying that they're as bad as EA have been to some staff members.

[lambros]

I work as a freelancer together with my wife and I work too much! Usually 11-4, brake for lunch and then 5-12 am. Many times this is non stop for 1-2 months, including the weekends (ok, we may take half Sunday off). But I really enjoy working, and I work for myself.

[Ernest Burden III]

i'm in employment in a firm of architects, so i work a normal 37.5 hour week...we have a very nice working environment here.

Alright, that's it. I'm movin' to Wales. Check out my long-lost family roots, and work--less--under Stephen.

 

Rendering is a field where people often work crazy-long hours. It comes from the architect's mindset that says any sacrifice is worth making for architecture. It's a sickness, and should be erraticated.

I am a sickness, I guess. I work a very long week. On the other hand, I'm known to take a month or two off here and there. Try that with a 'real' job.

[John Dollus]

I work in a rather large US arch viz office and most employees work an avg of 45 hrs a week with a few that regularly put in 60 hrs a week. Everything over 40 hrs is paid at 1.5 overtime rate. This is the first US place that I have heard of that actually works this way, though. Most places I know of operate on a salary compensation structure and are exempt from mandatory overtime rates.

[thomas+son]

Actual most Arch firms will head to not paying for OT. The Dept of labor rules changed 1-2 years ago, most firms have not caught up. I am an intern-arch. which under the OLD labor rules-- I have to be paid OT for over 40 hr labored. (intern was deemed not a professional, I could not open my own firm or work on my own). BUT now the labor rules are: if I have a college degree and work in the field of that degree then I am a professional = no OT is required. That does not mean a good firm could pay the OT, just that they are not required to pay it.

 

----- the part that bothers me the most is the "no negative effect"

 

there should be OT for everyone Just for the fact that -- the is no counter measure for the boss to keep giving OT. The boss would be crazy to hire extra staff to make up for the extra work. The boss would be paying you 1x and someone new 1x = 2x pay. The boss knows he can get you to work OT and not pay OT and work you like two people (making him more money).

 

=no negative effect to the firm for having you working More in less Time.

 

I find that most people that work OT and do not mind NOT getting paid- are people who control their destiny. Freelance GC, consultants, Own your firm. These people choose if they will decide to take the job or not. that does not make working the OT and not getting paid fun, but it is they who elected to take on the work.

 

be happy your firm pays OT my Firm just changed (when they found out about the labor change).

 

Thomas+son

[Joseph Petrino]

I work in a very Untypical arch viz firm in NYC. No overtime or weekends unless the deadline is crazy and a bottle of something appears 5:30 every night for the enjoyment of all! 20 years in the business and this is a first for me.

 

btw nobody is getting rich here either. Just doing what we love.

[silviapalara]

As a European working in the US, I can tell you that the major difference between the 2 continents is that in Europe people work by the hour, while in the US they work by the result. Yes contracts will tell you that you are paid for so many hours a week, but you don't clock in and out, so if you are done, you leave, if you are not done, you stay until it is done. If your manager has half a brain, he/she will not set projects up so that with the number of people available, they have to work 12 hours a day to make the deadline.

Unfortunately not many managers have a brain...

[mps_]

I have a boss who has no idea what I am doing, and gets scared by big words like polygons. He was hired without having any cg/3d experience to oversee the department, and comes from a completely different environment. Hence it gets stressful when they act as bad as the clients, who as we all know expect us to move mountains by yesterday and do it all with one hand tied behind our backs. Fortunately, I have no help at hand when things go wrong and as the most senior modeller I have to resolve everything... Thank God for forums with helpful souls on!

At least its the weekend and I have a kids birthday party to go to with lots of family. And the Bloody boss isn't forcing me in to work the weekend. http://www.cgarchitect.com/vb/images/smilies/frown.gif

[Ernest Burden III]

I work in a very Untypical arch viz firm in NYC./QUOTE]

 

Wow! Which firm?