''Drive An Uber": Ex-Sony Boss Chris Deering's Advice For Laid-Off Workers

Chris Deering, the former President of Sony's Computer Entertainment division in Europe, has some straightforward advice for game developers who have recently lost their jobs. In a podcast, Mr Deering suggested that laid-off developers consider taking a year off to relax and enjoy themselves, perhaps spending time at the beach, or exploring alternative income sources like driving for Uber until the job market recovers and new opportunities emerge, Fortune reported. 

''You're going to have to take a few, figure out how to get through it, drive an Uber or whatever. Find a cheap place to live and go to the beach for a year,” he said on My Perfect Console podcast.

Mr Deering, who helmed Sony's European PlayStation division from 1995 to 2005, drew a stark comparison between the current wave of layoffs in the gaming industry and the COVID-19 pandemic, implying that the job losses are an unavoidable and widespread phenomenon. 

In February, the company announced a significant restructuring exercise, involving the layoff of approximately 900 employees worldwide and the closure of PlayStation Studios' London location, citing a decline in the gaming market. At that time, Sony's then-CEO Jim Ryan said the cost-cutting measure was to ''streamline our resources.''

Mr Deering, though, rejected the idea that the layoffs were solely driven by corporate greed and profit motives. ''I don't think it's fair to say that the resulting layoffs have been greed. I always tried to minimize the speed at which we added staff because I always knew there would be a cycle. If the money isn't coming in from the consumers on the last game, it's going to be hard to justify spending the money for the next game,'' he said. 

However, the games division of the Independent Workers Union of Great Britain (IWGB) strongly disagreed with his comments and highlighted the need for collective action and unionisation to protect workers' rights and interests.

''With a strong union, we can get what we deserve - work-life balance and job security. Without it, we're left with "let them eat cake",'' a tweet by IWGB Game Workers read. 

Notably, the gaming industry has experienced a wave of layoffs and downsizing across various companies, with several major players announcing significant job cuts this year. In addition to Sony, companies like Microsoft and Unity also downsized their studios this year, cutting nearly 4,000 jobs at the start of the year.