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You can keep using GitHub but automatically sync your GitHub releases to SourceForge quickly and easily with this tool and take advantage of SourceForge's massive reach. | Follow Slashdot on LinkedIn x 154034897 story Businesses Technology Epic Games Ends Alternate-Friday Vacation Policy, Angering Staff (bloomberg.com) 65 Posted by msmash on Friday October 22, 2021 @02:03PM from the how-about-that dept. Epic Games is ending a pandemic-inspired policy of granting every other Friday off, sparking an uproar among staff. From a report: An internal Slack channel was filled with pleas from employees for the game publisher to reconsider. Several people said the extra vacation days had helped their mental health, allowed them to be better parents and even improved their productivity while working on updates for Fortnite, which is one of world's most popular games. Epic said the policy was always meant to be temporary and that the company's goal was to allow employees and contractors to take paid time off on their own schedules. The company also closes for two-week breaks in the summer and winter. "Right now, we are seeing lots of Fridays off for deep work, and lots of people who must work Fridays anyways," Chief Operating Officer Daniel Vogel wrote in an email to staff reviewed by Bloomberg. "This meant that many people were not benefiting from this policy equally." But in a survey of 581 employees reviewed by Bloomberg, 93% said they had found the alternating Fridays off to be "extremely beneficial" and 61% said they felt worried, guilty or stressed when taking separate vacation days. Almost 90% of employees said they wanted to keep Fridays off as a standard. 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Close Close Search 65 Comments Log In/Create an Account Comments Filter: * All * Insightful * Informative * Interesting * Funny The Fine Print: The following comments are owned by whoever posted them. We are not responsible for them in any way. * Incompetent managers need to be shaken lose (Score:2) by klipclop ( 6724090 ) writes: There are a lot of metrics available over the last couple of years to know how productive employees were during the pandemic. I think CIOs like this should be tarred, feathered and driven out of town backwards on a donkey for good measure. Incompetent idiots like this are just trying to justify their existence overbloated compensation. + + Re: (Score:1) by Anonymous Coward writes: Yep, throughout human history we've trended towards less working hours in a week, when we were an agrarian society it was a 7 day a week job, the productivity boost from industrialisation dropped this to 6, and eventually 5 days. It shouldn't be too surprising that in the computer age we can probably shed a further day off a week and have no negligible impact. In fact, the massive increase in disproportionality between executive pay and everyone else in the last decade or two is probably a symptom of the fac o o # # Re: (Score:1) by aergern ( 127031 ) writes: Sounds like the typical butthurt high school football star who left their best years in high school ... bet you then spent your 20s being "self-employed" and educated at the "school of hard knocks" ... or whatever it is that you trolls tend to portrait yourselves as but always angry and snide. Go have another Bud Light and bitch about those illegals stealing your jobs. @ @ - - Re: Incompetent managers need to be shaken lose (Score:2) by ThurstonMoore ( 605470 ) writes: You forgot to use the same account troll. = @ 1 reply beneath your current threshold. # Re: (Score:2) by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) writes: Note that the OP is is not the real "rsilvergun", this is just some lame, trolling asshole with an extra "L" in his name. @ o we need to remove healthcare from jobs (mostly USA ( Score:2) by Joe_Dragon ( 2206452 ) writes: we need to remove healthcare from jobs (mostly USA) # o Re: (Score:2) by SirSpanksALot ( 7630868 ) writes: What about those of us that are fine with 5 days a week, as long as we get compensation for it. Will I get paid 20% more because I'm fine working 5 days a week - vs the 4 day a week people? # o 1 reply beneath your current threshold. + o + o + o + Re:Incompetent managers need to be shaken lose (Score:5, Insightful) by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) writes: on Friday October 22, 2021 @03:01PM (#61918401) I think CIOs like this should be tarred, feathered and driven out of town backwards on a donkey for good measure. This is why companies are rarely nice to employees. Employees soon take the niceness for granted and then resent the return to normality. If Epic had never given anyone any time off, the employees would be happier, and there would be no demands for tarring and feathering. Managers everywhere should learn from this example. Reply to This Parent Share twitter facebook Share on Google+ Flag as Inappropriate o o Re: (Score:2) by smoot123 ( 1027084 ) writes: This is why companies are rarely nice to employees. Employees soon take the niceness for granted and then resent the return to normality. Same thing happens with raises, or any other jump in material well being. We're happy for a while, then adjust and our happiness returns to the previous level. It's where you get the saying "money can't buy you happiness." It pretty much doesn't. This is why it's important to keep things in perspective and maintain an attitude of gratitude. No, things are not actually worse than all of recorded history, much as overwrought hysterics might want you to think. Good news is this will blow over. It works in both d # # Re: (Score:2) by Brain-Fu ( 1274756 ) writes: "If money can't buy happiness, then I guess I'll have to rent it." -- Weird Al Yankovic. @ o Companies are never "nice" (Score:2) by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) writes: They were almost certainly burning out staff they needed and did the policy to stop the bleeding. They feel they don't need to do that now for some reason. The job market is probably a lot worse than anyone's really admitting. # o Re: (Score:2) by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 ) writes: JFC, they wouldn't be happier, they'd be miserable and they wouldn't understand it was because they were burnt out. Management hears that people are happier and healthier and the only thing that some of these assholes think is, "shit, am I paying for this"? Healthier, less burnt out workers don't leave as much. They produce better work. Why the hell shouldn't employees treat decent working conditions for granted? Some workers got a little extra time off and realized that they didn't have to be away from their # + 3 replies beneath your current threshold. * Punishment (Score:5, Interesting) by Cpt_Kirks ( 37296 ) writes: on Friday October 22, 2021 @02:10PM (#61918257) If the company grants goodies, then arbitrarily takes them away, most view that as punishment. Stupid move in this job market. Reply to This Share twitter facebook Share on Google+ Flag as Inappropriate + + o + Re: (Score:2) by timeOday ( 582209 ) writes: Except the biggie is Work from Home, which they had no choice about. o + 1 reply beneath your current threshold. * Not everyone benefits ... so ... (Score:2) by ITRambo ( 1467509 ) writes: "many people were not benefiting from this policy equally." So, from now on no one will benefit. - Grubby boss man at Epic + * Epic has to make up the money (Score:2) by david.emery ( 127135 ) writes: All that money they're losing by their stunt to work around and then sue Apple when Epic breached their contract... Not just lost sales, but also all the legal fees and lawyer bills... (Whether you agree with Epic or not, this is definitely a costly exercise.) + * Every other Friday... (Score:5, Informative) by Snard ( 61584 ) writes: on Friday October 22, 2021 @02:30PM (#61918305) Homepage ... Hmm, let me do the math on this one. 52 weeks in a year, therefore every other Friday is 26 days a year. Over five weeks. I'm retired now, but I would have loved an extra 5 weeks of vacation each year. Reply to This Share twitter facebook Share on Google+ Flag as Inappropriate + + Re: (Score:3) by phantomfive ( 622387 ) writes: At one of my jobs I negotiated a 4 day workweek in exchange for a 20% pay cut. Best negotiating I've ever done, it was a great idea. o o Re: (Score:3) by Snard ( 61584 ) writes: I would say this was an "everyone wins" situation. You had fewer work hours and extra free time, the company saves the extra salary, and you probably work a bit harder while you are there and do the same amount of work as your 40 hour/week coworkers. At my last job before retiring, I would burn up my remaining vacation at the end of the calendar year by taking Fridays off each week. It made it hard to return to 2 day weekends at the start of the new year. # o Re: (Score:2) by 93 Escort Wagon ( 326346 ) writes: At one of my jobs I negotiated a 4 day workweek in exchange for a 20% pay cut. Best negotiating I've ever done, it was a great idea. Assuming they weren't 10-hour workdays, at least... # o Re: (Score:2) by dskoll ( 99328 ) writes: That's a really great idea. I did a similar thing in a pervious job, but it was every-other-Friday off for a 10% pay cut. Best career decision of my life. # # Re: (Score:2) by phantomfive ( 622387 ) writes: The best part is that the 10% comes off the top tax bracket, so it's actually more like a 6% cut in take-home pay. @ + Re: (Score:2) by stephanruby ( 542433 ) writes: Epic Games supposedly already has "unlimited vacation". This is not exactly true then. o + Re: (Score:2) by gillbates ( 106458 ) writes: 26 days - So basically about what German workers are already guaranteed by law, then. o + Re: (Score:2) by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes: ... Hmm, let me do the math on this one. 52 weeks in a year, therefore every other Friday is 26 days a year. Over five weeks. I'm retired now, but I would have loved an extra 5 weeks of vacation each year. This is the games industry. Having 5 weeks extra off doesn't even begin to cover the permanent crunch time staff find themselves in. Every day is some emergency or some artificial deadline that they are behind on. Given the choice between that and a normal job with only standard vacation I'd chose the latter. o + Game devs often put in 80+ hour weeks salaried (Score:2) by rsilvergun ( 571051 ) writes: The industry is littered with examples of them working themselves to death. The history of the Sega Saturn Sonic game is the one I always think of. Anyway you might want to reconsider... o + Hail your corporatist overlords! (Score:1) by Uberbah ( 647458 ) writes: You can make up for it by giving up your other 52 "vacation days" a year, otherwise known as the weekend. o * Management views with alarm... (Score:2) by RedMage ( 136286 ) writes: Management views with alarm that people actually thought they were allowed to take alternate Fridays off, and seeks to clarify that they weren't actually serious. Please note that the bi-weekly prostration before management policy remains fully in effect and desk floggings will resume shortly. + * If you dont like it quit (Score:5, Insightful) by djp2204 ( 713741 ) writes: on Friday October 22, 2021 @02:35PM (#61918325) Stop begging. This is the only way to stop a policy you deem harmful Reply to This Share twitter facebook Share on Google+ Flag as Inappropriate + + Re: If you dont like it quit (Score:2) by ThurstonMoore ( 605470 ) writes: Or organize, that's the best option. o * psycho (Score:1) by Anonymous Coward writes: Well, Epic is run by a psychopath, what did you expect? + * Punish the workers for management failures (Score:2) by radarskiy ( 2874255 ) writes: What, are you going to hold *management* responsible for their own work? + + Re: (Score:2) by ShanghaiBill ( 739463 ) writes: What, are you going to hold *management* responsible for their own work? It is easier to find better workers than to find better managers. o + Re: (Score:2) by Opportunist ( 166417 ) writes: I'd shoot them if it wasn't so terribly illegal. Seriously, those pests ain't worth a single second of jail time. That's the main reason they're still alive. o * Being a nice company is not working (Score:4, Insightful) by iamnotx0r ( 7683968 ) writes: on Friday October 22, 2021 @02:43PM (#61918351) TIme to make the business a real work place and not some place for the special people. I am sure this post will piss of a lot of folks who have come to believe they are actually special. Reply to This Share twitter facebook Share on Google+ Flag as Inappropriate + + Supply and Demand is all that maters. (Score:2) by Somervillain ( 4719341 ) writes: TIme to make the business a real work place and not some place for the special people. I am sure this post will piss of a lot of folks who have come to believe they are actually special. This is supply and demand only. If the employees are rare and difficult to replace AND valued elsewhere, they are special. If they're not, then replace them. This is a simple supply and demand problem. If there are a surplus of qualified candidates who want the job without alternating Fridays, Epic holds the power & I'd suggest the employees bend to their will. Otherwise, they are special and Epic needs to figure out how to keep them happy to keep them from jumping ship. However, executives and o + Re: (Score:3) by jeff4747 ( 256583 ) writes: "Not working" based on what metric? Productivity is up, deadlines are being met. o o Re: (Score:2) by Brain-Fu ( 1274756 ) writes: If deadlines are being met, that means that you aren't getting full value out of your workers. The occasional missed deadline is objective evidence that you are pushing you team to its limit, and hence getting maximum value from the money you pay them. Of course, the business must be able to tolerate missed deadlines and not fail as a business. So you need to pick deadlines that are much shorter than anything that would be a realistic need. AND you have to keep this a secret from the employees, so they be # + Re: (Score:2) by Opportunist ( 166417 ) writes: I am special. I'm someone with a very special skill set in very high demand. And you can get me, and actually quite cheaply, if, and only if, you cater to my needs. I guess corporations agree with this, because I get what I want. o o Re: (Score:2) by iamnotx0r ( 7683968 ) writes: Some are special. But a fact is that *most* are not. # # Re: (Score:2) by Opportunist ( 166417 ) writes: Sure. But that doesn't mean that we should exploit them 'til they croak. @ # If they weren't special, Epic wouldn't do this... ( Score:2) by Somervillain ( 4719341 ) writes: Some are special. But a fact is that *most* are not. True, but they're clearly special because epic gave them this perk. Epic is not a charity. They didn't do this to be kind. They did this because they want their employees to be happy and stay. It was an investment. If Epic no longer wants to invest in alternating Fridays off, they revoke the perk and can suffer the consequences and hopefully rival studios will snatch up some good talent. Nothing to see here, folks, just the free market at work. @ + Re: (Score:2) by thegarbz ( 1787294 ) writes: TIme to make the business a real work place and not some place for the special people. I am sure this post will piss of a lot of folks who have come to believe they are actually special. Define "real workplace". Is permanent crunchtime and high burnout rate the gaming industry is known for "real"? Is the well researched idea that 9 day fortnights actually produce the same productivity while improving employee mental health "fake"? Shit man, I guess I don't have a real job. I've worked for an employer that gives me every second Friday off for the past 15 years now. How will I cope now realising that I believe I'm special? (Note 4 years ago my company tried to roll back the idea due to some new o * Nobody wants to work (Score:1) by RobinH ( 124750 ) writes: My employer didn't change work times at all. We've worked (with PPE) every day through the whole pandemic. That means a mask on for over 8 hours per day even while alone in an office programming. I understand that policy, otherwise it would look like office staff get special privileges and people working on the plant floor don't. We're in this together. So what I see are people at Epic who temporarily got a whole lot of paid days off complaining when that temporary benefit was pulled back, and there ar + + Re: (Score:3) by jeff4747 ( 256583 ) writes: Emulating crabs in a bucket is not the best strategy to copy. You could look at their results (higher productivity, still meeting deadlines) and ask your own employer why it's not available. But nah, gotta pull those upity jerks down. o o Re: (Score:2) by RobinH ( 124750 ) writes: I'm quite happy doing my job, and I'm paid by the hour, and paid overtime if I have to stay late, so why would I expect them to pay me to sit at home? If I'm burnt out I just work less, and I take vacation, etc. I'm treated quite well. I'm just saying this is a case of a human given $10 and having to return $5 is always going to be unhappier than a human given $2. It's just stupid bugs in the ape-brain we inherited. # * The Friday issue... (Score:2) by bb_matt ( 5705262 ) writes: ... and also the Monday one. So many employers are kind of averse to the idea of "slowdowns" on Fridays and Mondays - and indeed to other activities, such as "developer days", where devs can choose to spend the time innovating on whatever they want. It's human nature at work. I think what Epic games had, was the best option of all - and to take it away, seems absurd. Every alternate Friday is a fantastic idea - it effectively amounts to a 4.5 day week. Of course, that depends how much overtime grind happens, bu + + Re: (Score:2) by Krishnoid ( 984597 ) writes: I bet people have a lot of momentum going into Friday anyway, if from habit more than anything else. They should change the half/day off to Mondays, so if you had a project you started on the weekend, you can go full-bore on it the whole weekend, then get a break and start ramping up on Monday -- check (not necessarily reply to) emails, get your work week semi-planned -- and start Monday afternoon/Tuesday with a warmer cache. o + Re: (Score:2) by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) writes: So many employers are kind of averse to the idea of "slowdowns" on Fridays and Mondays I barely care what my employer thinks or wants. The day that happens I'll move on or retire. It's not like they weren't warned...when they called my references and asked about me, they were told that "you would be very lucky if you could get him to work for you". But they didn't listen and they hired me anyway... o * Executives... (Score:2) by VeryFluffyBunny ( 5037285 ) writes: ...see it as a part of their identity to work themselves into an early grave & neglect their families regardless of whether it degrades their ability to function well & make a positive contribution to the company. They're uncomfortable with the idea that other people might actually prefer sane, rational, evidence-informed, sustainable working conditions, spend time with their families & friends, & come to work rested & able to tackle complex problems & be creative. Not abusing themse + + Re: (Score:2) by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) writes: ...see it as a part of their identity to work themselves into an early grave & neglect their families And I fully support them doing that to themselves. But not me, no no no. My job is to do as little as possible whilst earning the most I can. That's my job, period. And so far, so good. I put in maybe 15 or 20 actual work hours a week, occasionally a little more, but often less. I'm usually done working by noon depending on how I feel. And usually I feel like I'm done by noon. My upper management can run themselves ragged for all I care, that ain't my thang. Have at it, boys, go nuts. I'll watch from an easy o o Re: (Score:2) by NoMoreACs ( 6161580 ) writes: My upper management can run themselves ragged for all I care, that ain't my thang. Have at it, boys, go nuts. I'll watch from an easy chair and lift my beer to you in admiration of your work ethic. lol Work fascinates me; I can sit and watch it for hours! # * So pay you to take vacation? Nope .... (Score:1) by King_TJ ( 85913 ) writes: I get that if you work for a place that gives you really sweet perks, you want to try to hang onto them. But this is ridiculous. Like someone else said, that's 5 weeks of paid vacation if you get every other Friday off work. Nobody's in business to pay people not to do anything for them. + + Re: (Score:2) by Opportunist ( 166417 ) writes: Odd. I have 5 weeks paid vacation. Plus conferences, plus seminars, plus trainings, plus holidays, plus... All a matter of negotiation. Of course, it's easier to negotiate from a position of power. o * Summer Fridays (Score:1) by Nighttime ( 231023 ) writes: This year, the company I work for came up with the idea of Summer Fridays. Basically, we were given the option to finish work at lunchtime on Friday throughout July and August. Great, means you get to start your weekends a bit early, right? Except our client base were still working Friday afternoons, so those of us in client-facing roles didn't get the full benefit; we could have a half-day elsewhere in the week, but it didn't feel as special. Nearly all internal departments buggered off completely on those + * To be completely honest... (Score:3) by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) writes: on Friday October 22, 2021 @04:21PM (#61918705) Journal To be completely honest, I don't do a damn thing on most Fridays. Oh, I fart around, maybe attend a meeting, then I fuck off for the rest of the day. The only thing I make sure to do on Friday is submit my time sheet. Also, most of my team is on the East coast and I'm on the West coast, so by noon PST I'm blissfully free of any co-workers who might want anything from me. And even if they did, it can wait until Monday. So I don't get every other Friday off, for all intents and purposes I get every Friday off. Reply to This Share twitter facebook Share on Google+ Flag as Inappropriate + * Sore Loser (Score:2) by NoMoreACs ( 6161580 ) writes: Epic management are just pissed off that they lost nearly every count of their greedy little lawsuit against Apple, and in fact had to reimburse Apple for all the stolen sub fees they had originally agreed in writing to pay. So the little shits are essentially kicking their dogs, by cruelly punishing the only beings they can: Their presumably hard-working employees, after agreeing to give them this well-deserved benefit. But since when has Epic management's word been worth anything? Ask Apple! + * Group 3 (Score:1) by Disco Ninja ( 7135795 ) writes: We used the have the same benefit but used have an informal 3rd group of people who consistently worked their Friday off. We also had to work 9 hours / 9 days every 2 weeks to earn the day aoeoffa. + * Industry labour crunch (Score:2) by Dixie_Flatline ( 5077 ) writes: There's a real shortage of qualified game devs in the industry right now. You either pay a shit-tonne to poach someone or you lure them with better working conditions. It's happening all over. Want these people to stick around to continue to make your company insanely rich? Give them the fucking Friday off, god. Fortnite is such a juggernaut right now, and you think maybe it's not worth keeping those people around? They can write their ticket anywhere, to be honest, and it's partly because they worked on tha + * There may be more comments in this discussion. Without JavaScript enabled, you might want to turn on Classic Discussion System in your preferences instead. 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