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Survey shows the many advantages of virtual offices (beyond the ability to work sans pants)
Those of us who do almost all of our work from the comforts of our homes will not be surprised by what follows, but the rest of the world should take note. A new survey of directors of 600 small to medium sized business reveal that upper-management sees major benefits of so-called "virtual office" work environments. So what are those advantages? Well, no shockers here, chief among the perceived advantages are lowered costs, flexibility for employee (such as the ability to hire people in different geographic locations), and cutting down on pollution and commute times and costs. In fact, over half of businesses reported a cost savings of around $10,000 a month by using the "virtual" environment. So... welcome to our world, world!
Intel to spend $5 billion on new 14nm fab in Arizona, create 4,000 new jobs this year
When Paul Otellini isn't too busy talking about being jilted by Nokia, he spends his time hosting presidents and splashing billions of dollars on new manufacturing facilities. Intel's CEO is wrapping his tumultuous week on a high note, having welcomed Barack Obama to Chipzilla's Oregon facility and treated the president to the happy news that Intel will invest $5 billion back into the US economy by building its most advanced fab yet -- which will introduce an impossibly small 14nm production process -- in Arizona, to begin operation in 2013. Construction starts in the middle of this year and is expected to create "thousands" of jobs, both temporary and permanent. Aside from that, Otellini has disclosed Intel's intention to create 4,000 new jobs in the US, mostly in R&D and product development. Music to Obama's ears, we're sure.
Apple Store retail employee discusses what it's like to work there
Although doing so usually ends with a current employee becoming a former employee, one Apple Store retail worker recently had a lot to say about his experience working for the company. In an article over at Popular Mechanics, an unnamed employee spilled the beans on everything from being in the dark about new products until the Keynote Address (just like the rest of us), the undercover plain-clothes security working in every store, how working the Phone Room is like working a suicide hotline, and how talking to the press about your experiences can get you fired. In that case, one hopes he has another job lined up now that this article was published! We have, of course, seen articles before about what it's like to work for Apple and confirmation that Apple Store employees are usually in the dark about new products, but the article is definitely worth a read to get an insider's view as to what it may be like to work retail for Apple. If you were thinking of trying to get a job with Apple yourself, you may be able to glean a little info as to which subjects to avoid during your interview.
Rahul Sood joins Microsoft as GM for System Experience in the Interactive Entertainment Business
Yes, it's a big old mouthful of a job title, and no, we've no idea what exactly it entails either. Rahul Sood, the originator of the Voodoo gaming PC line, has just announced he has joined up with Microsoft to perform the ill-specified role of general manager for system experience in the Interactive Entertainment division. We imagine that's an intentionally loose definition, intended to give Rahul the wide remit of influence and operation that he enjoyed with his previous employer, HP. He's already had a few choice words to dish on the topic of Xbox versus PC gaming, so it'll be most intriguing to see where and how his energies are utilized as things move forward. Most intriguing indeed.
38 Studios' loan from Rhode Island detailed in new report
Thanks to documentation from the Rhode Island Economic Development Corporation, we now have a better idea of the terms involved in 38 Studios' controversial move from Massachusetts to R.I. Obtained by WPRI, the report kinda explains what's going on: 38 Studios will receive $51 million from the state; $13 million as soon as Curt Shilling's studio signs the contract to move and another $38 million as the company achieves milestones over the next 15 months. The remaining $20 million is held in some reserve to assure three years of debt payment, which is tied to other caveats. 38 Studios also has a strict job creation schedule over the next three years. The developer must have 125 full-time jobs within a year of signing for the loan, another 175 the following year and 150 more the year after. That may just be numbers to many of you out there, but industry human resource representatives and studio directors just spit coffee all over their monitors. The studio will be penalized $7,500 per year for each of the 450 jobs it doesn't create. Obviously, if you do the math, it's cheaper not to hire for the full-time job and take the penalty. 38 Studios must also announce the location of its new studio operations and corporate headquarters by November 30, 2010 -- note: the company just has to say where it's going, not actually get there. Also, the closing of the loan requires a "signed, enforceable" 10-year lease for 38 to stay in Rhode Island. Looks like R.I. wants to make sure that it's not paying to raise a studio -- which, to date, hasn't released a single project -- and watch it leave for California or Canada after it gets all that cash.
Rhode Island treasurer seeks to block $75M loan to 38 Studios
Rhode Island gubernatorial candidate Frank Caprio, who is also the general treasurer, is working to block the state's $75 million loan to 38 Studios. The Boston Globe reports Caprio wants to stop the loan guarantee, which the studio would receive in exchange for moving from Massachusetts to Rhode Island, until a new governor is sworn in. Several other gubernatorial candidates have also expressed concern. The multi-million dollar deal, which would leave Rhode Island taxpayers with the bill if 38 Studios was to go under, is key to the company creating a proposed 450 jobs in the state by the end of 2012. 38 Studios currently employs approximately 200 staff.
Apple looking to hire iBookstore marketing manager
Apple has posted a new job listing looking for a marketing manager specifically for the iBookstore. The listing seeks an experienced business marketer "to drive awareness and sales of iBooks through co-marketing programs with publishers and authors, strategic partnerships, and via online and direct marketing tactics." It seems like a lot of the position will be self-driven, as whoever's chosen will be asked to come up with some interesting schemes to push iBook sales, both with publishers, and even across the other divisions of iTunes (buy an iBook, get an iTunes download free?). But the bottom line is of course sales -- Apple wants someone to push iBooks, specifically in the US. More power to them, we say. Apple has some staunch competitors in terms of book sales -- while I'd consider the iPad a much better e-reader than Amazon's Kindle, I've actually purchased more books from the Kindle store just because I feel it's a better experience. Maybe with someone in charge of getting readers into the iBookstore, we'll see more reasons to stick with Apple's digital editions rather than going elsewhere. [via Macsimum News]
Video games industry in great health, unlike the rest of the US economy
Interested in dosing up your video game knowledge with a shot of macroeconomic data? Of course you are. The US Entertainment Software Association has delivered its 2010 health report for entertaining software and things are looking rosy. While the US economy was enjoying a steady 2.8 percent annual growth between 2005 and 2008, video game revenues were expanding by 16.7 percent a year. Factoring in the economically arid 2009 chops total US economic growth in half down to 1.4 percent, but gaming again shows its resiliency by taking a smaller dip down to 10.6 percent. That'll be welcome news to the more than 120,000 people whose employment depends on this burgeoning industry, as will the fact that the average annual compensation in the sector is just under $90,000. Good work, if you can get it.
Rumor: Infinity Ward loses two development leads
According to an unnamed source "close to the studio" who spoke with Kotaku, lead designer Todd Alderman and lead software engineer Francesco ("Frank") Gigliotti recently resigned from Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 development house Infinity Ward. Alderman's LinkedIn profile (seen after the break) corroborates that April was apparently his last month of employment with the studio, though Gigliotti's LinkedIn account appears to be unavailable at this point in time (Kotaku has an alleged screengrab of Gigliotti's profile that appears to legitimize the claim). This report comes just weeks after studio co-heads Vince Zampella and Jason West vacated their positions at Infinity Ward, filed a lawsuit against Activision, and headed for the Creative Artists Agency in Hollywood. We've asked Activision and Infinity Ward for an official response and will let you know if we hear anything back.
The Daily Grind: Would you want to work in the industry?
Working in the business of making games is the dream of many gamers -- it's a field we love, with a whole lot of obvious perks and the chance at making a permanent impact on the field. Of course, once you dig a little deeper it becomes clear that making games isn't necessarily a fun ride. The field is full of contentious personalities, greedy publishers, "fans" who frequently heckle your every step, and a high profit margin expected with little turnaround time. And let's not forget the very real possibility of having the rug yanked out from under you midway through development. Still, none of this stops people from being attracted to the field, and those in the thick of it generally wouldn't trade it away even if they had the option. For all the downsides, the rewards are... well... any time you see a game go live that you're proud to have worked on and all of the fans who genuinely like your work. So what about you? Do you want to take part in the up-and-down ride of the game industry, or would you rather just enjoy the end result?
Apple supplier audit reveals sub-minimum wage pay and records of underage labor
Apple's famous desire for total control over its operations seems to have extended to its manufacturing facilities as we've come across Cupertino's Supplier Responsibility 2010 Progress Report, which details audits the American company has done of its overseas suppliers and the failures identified therein. The findings are pretty damning on the whole, with more than half (54 percent) of all factories failing to meet Apple's already inflated maximum 60-hour work week, 24 percent paying less than the minimum wage, 37 percent failing to respect anti-discrimination rules, and three facilities holding records of employing a total of eleven 15-year olds (who were over the legal age of 16 or had left by the time of the audit). Apple is, predictably, not jazzed about the situation, and has taken action through train-the-trainer schemes, threats of business termination with recidivist plants, and -- most notably -- the recovery of $2.2 million in recruitment fees that international contract workers should not have had to pay. It should come as no shock to learn that cheaper overseas factories are cutting illegal corners, but it's disappointing to hear Apple's note that most of the 102 audited manufacturers said Cupertino was the only vendor to perform such rigorous compliance checks. Still, we'll take what we can get and the very existence of this report -- which can be savagely skewed to defame Apple's efforts (as demonstrated expertly by The Daily Telegraph below) -- is an encouraging sign that corporate responsibility is being taken seriously. We hope, wherever your geek loyalties and fervor may lie, that you'll agree Apple's leading in the right direction and that its competitors should at the very least have matching monitoring schemes. They may have to swallow some bad PR at first, but sweeping up the dirty details of where gadgets come from is juvenile and has no place in a civilized world. Hit the source link for the full report.
Linux Foundation sets up Job Board, cites 80 percent growth in Linux-related jobs
As the Linux Foundation tells it, the Linux-related job market is today 80 percent larger than it was five years ago. Whereas other industries have had to shed workers in the current recession, the Foundation is hopeful penny-pinching measures might actually encourage businesses to transition to Linux-based software and thereby further stimulate employment opportunities within the sector. We're not told exactly what "Linux-related" means in this context, but the newly set up Linux.com Job Board indicates that the vast majority of new openings are for system admins. That's right, the corporate world is crying out for more geeks -- won't you answer the call? [Thanks to Overlord59 for the Tux images]
Featured job of the week: Mac developer for graphics focused project
Job Description Join an award-winning ex-Apple graphic designer as well as a respected computer vision/graphics researcher, with patents licensed by a number of well-known technology brands, to take a patent-pending technology and build it into a best-of-class Mac application. We are looking for a talented developer with a passion for building creative solutions in the graphics space. Candidate will be responsible for overseeing software development, testing and launch. The expectation is for this product to be a game-changer; we're looking for a talented developer who can help make that a reality. For more info, and to apply, check out the full requirements and contact info on this job's page.
Microsoft lists more jobs for Project Natal, 343 Industries; hiring Shadow Complex, Gears of War franchises lead
With Shadow Complex setting very specific week-one sales records on XBLA, Epic and Chair would be kind of nuts to not consider a sequel. One job listing out of a recent crop on Microsoft's employment boards seems to out that likely scenario, implying that Shadow Complex is a bona fide franchise for Microsoft Game Studios and Epic. Said listing specifically calls for a Lead Producer to "lead the publishing side of games made by Epic: Gears of War and Shadow Complex." Additionally, Microsoft appears to be looking for more able bodies to join its growing pool of Project Natal and 343 Industries employees. Existing job listings call for everything from designers to engineers to even a few artists. Sadly, the company isn't looking for MJOLNIR armor models yet, but just in case, Microsoft, you know how to reach us. [Via Develop]
Microsoft hiring for Project Natal and Halo
A variety of new job listings have emerged on a Microsoft employment site, including positions for Project Natal and -- perhaps more interesting -- positions for a new Halo game. These listings for Halo, likely for Halo: Reach, call for designers, AI developers and animators -- even a multiplayer game design lead. As for Project Natal, some listings point to "a large franchise," whereas others quote "an excellent next-generation" project -- which could be just about anything. We confirmed with Microsoft's Larry "Major Nelson" Hryb that the listings were legit, though he couldn't provide us with any more info beyond that. [Via HotBloodedGaming]
How I WoW ends its run, Patrick Beja to work for Blizzard
Our good friends Patrick Beja and Shawn Coons (who you've likely heard on our podcast before a few times) have posted the very last episode of the popular and excellent How I WoW podcast. Both Turpster and I have appeared on and enjoyed the show, as we've said before, and they're calling it quits -- the final episode features Scott Johnson of The Instance podcast (who was also on the very first episode, so that's fitting), and besides saying goodbye to their audience, the three guys talk very insightfully about the WoW community and its podcasters, and the kinds of ties we create as players in places as varied as the game, the online community, and real-life events like BlizzCon.The show is ending (temporarily, perhaps -- Shawn hints that he may revive it, or help someone else to do so) mostly because Patrick Beja, as we heard at the very end of BlizzCon, is off to work for Blizzard in their Paris office. Unfortunately, he says he won't have a very public face at the company, but he's excited to have the position, and we're obviously very happy for him. He won't be able to podcast about World of Warcraft or Blizzard at all, so as Shawn says in the final show, there will definitely be a Patrick-shaped hole in the community. He won't be gone completely, though: he says will be able to continue his other podcasting work, including on The Movielicious podcast with our very own Turpster.We wish Patrick and Shawn the best, and if you haven't yet tuned in to How I WoW, definitely go give it a listen while the archives are still up -- it's a very interesting take on some of the more familiar faces in the community at large. We'll miss the show for sure.
First two Microsoft retail stores now hiring
Interested in handling the Zune HD and other such goodies ahead of time? Microsoft's first two retail stores are now hiring, and if you've always dreamt of being a "retail associate" now's your chance to stand on the front lines. The job will require at least some geographical proximity to the Scottsdale, Arizona or Mission Viejo, California store locations, a love for technology, and the memory to remember all those Windows 7 SKUs, but those are just small hurdles -- the honor and courage will have to come from within.
IRS saves on recruitment costs with Second Life?
Well, we've had some strange news stories come across our desk, but this one certainly ranks up closer to the top of the list. Frank Stipe, the Virtual Worlds & Social Networking Project Manager for the IRS (yes, the Internal Revenue Service, the people you hate every April) has told CollegeRecruiter.com that the company saves millions of dollars by using Second Life as a recruitment opportunity.IRS Careers Island is not only a job-seeker's resource for more information about the IRS, it's also a race car track where you can drive cars and race your friends! No, we're honestly not joking. As to how the IRS saves money by running this job information/race track island, check out Stipe's full statement after the break!
Realtime Worlds puts out an APB for job seekers at GDC
It may be an awful time to be searching for a job, but Crackdown developer Realtime Worlds is apparently doing just fine -- and looking to share the wealth. If you're interested, all you have to do is A) attend GDC, B) be good at some aspect of game development (obviously) and C) be willing to temporarily relocate to Scotland. In a press release titled "Realtime Worlds Offers Lifeline in Credit Crunch," the company announced plans to look for "more than 40 additional staff" at next week's Game Developers Conference. "In contrast to many other companies and sectors at the moment, our biggest challenge is in recruiting staff of the calibre, and in the quantities we need," John Duffie, Head of PR, said in the release. "Already 25% of our workforce comes from outside the UK because we aren't able to find everyone we need here." Contract employees from outside the UK will receive "free quality accommodation" in Scotland during their tenure, and a free return flight afterward. The new positions are for All Points Bulletin and one other unannounced project.
Konami recruiting for more Metal Gear
Who says you can't teach an Old Snake new tricks? Konami is looking to do just that, as evidenced by a job recruitment page. The page went live on Friday and explains Konami is seeking people to help with "new developments" in the Metal Gear series, specifically for home consoles and mobile devices (more Metal Gear Solid Touch?). The job posting also lists other titles that Konami is working on that aren't part of the Metal Gear series, such as Winning Eleven, Jikkyou Powerful Pro Baseball, and Bemani, as well as new online game content and pachislot machines.Nothing else is explicitly mentioned, but if you want to try to make sense of the job ad (and can read Japanese), then by all means, click here.[Via IGN]
