I was recently told games user researchers are usually the first to go when it comes to layoffs since the focus tends to be on developing the game and not testing it in times of need. Is that true? x

boynextdoornews

I can really only speak to the industry here in North America. When layoffs happen, the people deciding who goes and who stays usually triage the employees - divide them by importance/necessity. This can include which project they are working on, how much tribal knowledge they have, how difficult they would be to replace or outsource, and so on. Some workers are deemed mission-critical and are safe. Some workers are deemed high priority and are in the least danger. Most are put in general buckets of lower and lower priorities, with the layoffs starting from the lowest priority and working their way upward until sufficient costs have been cut.

The rule of thumb is that a worker that is easier to replace and/or working on a less important project has a lower priority to retain. If the tasks of one's team can be outsourced to an external contractor, that increases the chances of laying off the entire team and outsourcing to an external team. If the worker doesn't have a good relationship with her manager, that can decrease her chances at being kept. This applies in broad strokes, from artists to consultants. It is best to use this kind of heuristic to evaluate one's layoff potential.

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