CapstickWentHome

Next week I hit my 25 year anniversary of starting in the games industry. I've experienced just three closures during that time.

The first one, we heard about a couple of months before they actually pulled the plug, but it was supposedly a "secret" while the powers-that-be figured out the legal/financial details. Presumably how to get rid of the place while paying out the minimum without running afoul of the local laws. But we came to work, pretended everything was ok, waited until that final meeting was called, then were all escorted out.

The second time was a bit more of a surprise. We knew things weren't great, but didn't realize quite how bad things were until I turned up for work one morning to find the doors locked and a security guard turning people away. The final meeting was called in the parking lot a few days later. It was several weeks until we were able to be escorted back into the building to retrieve personal belongings.

The third time was a tiny company - about a dozen employees - and the owner decided to shut up shop at the end of the current round of projects. We got a fair amount of notice and he helped people find jobs with his contacts in the area. This one was a slow wind down... people gradually disappearing, furniture being sold off, until there was only a couple of us left in a mostly bare office space.

We went in July, and once there, the timeslot we prebooked seemed to be of little importance. Nobody seemed particularly interested in what time the tickets were booked for, nor was there any rush to get people out after their slot. Maybe it's just to gauge how busy it will be - if they have a rough idea of how many people are coming, they can close slots and that may help naturally spread the rest of the crowd to other times. Dunno. It does add a little extra stress, though, especially as the nearby main road was pretty backed up that day.

There's a 9 or 16 day visitor pass that's more reasonable for those visiting the country for a short time. Gives you entry to all EH sites.

Yeah, I've been fortunate compared to many, landing a couple of really long tenures along the way. Long for this industry, anyway.

We have the WARN Act, which is supposed to require companies to give workers 60 days notice of mass layoffs or closures. However, if the company declares chapter 7 bankruptcy and closes completely, all this seems to do for the employees is push you up a few spaces on the creditor priority list if you send a lawyer after them. Maybe the law should be adjusted to require 60 days-worth of compensation for eligible workers to be kept in an escrow account, out of reach of other creditors if bankruptcy is declared. I'm out of my depth here, though, so I'd better get back to my code.