Stuff Your Good News About Jobs!!!
The new jobs numbers are incredible, but not if you are currently unemployed...
Hearing the Biden administration talk about record low unemployment of 3.4% (down from 3.5% from the previous month and the lowest since the early 1960s) and that the U.S. economy added approximately 517,000 jobs in January should make everyone happy and hopeful (it is great news for the economy) , but when you are one of the tens-of-thousands of people laid off last month and in 2022, you probably feel hopeless.
I know I felt that way in 2000 when I got cut from my dream job working at a gaming magazine. I wondered, what did I do wrong? Was I terrible at my job? My wife was six months pregnant, I had just signed a 30-year mortgage on a house, and I had people that were relying on me. I had failed them, I thought. But I didn't fail them, I was great at my job, and I eventually found a new place to work. This wasn’t the last time I was laid off but it helped me put each new setback into perspective.
But who can blame anyone for feeling hopeless if they were laid off last year and still haven’t found a job; no amount of positive news about growth in the jobs market is going to fill them with hope and sunshine.
But don’t give up hope—there’s a dream job out there somewhere with your name on it, and don’t take being laid off as any kind of indication of your strengths and abilities in your chosen vocation; these layoffs have nothing to do with how great you were at your job (and you were great at your job unless you were fired “for cause”), but are simply a reflection of the decisions the company you used to work for have made (now and in the past), and the volatility economic environment we are in. In other words, you are great and you need to find a company that sees that greatness. You will. ♥
Pep talk complete! Now onto this week’s news - James.
People on the Move
Here is this week’s list of promotions, hires, and departures in the gaming/esports industry:
Esports:
Esteban Saldana is promoted to chief financial officer at Cloud9 Esports.
Marco Niemann has left his role as VP of commercial at Freaks 4U Gaming.
Shane Meyers leaves Twitch to join Epic Games (Fortnite Creative team) as its new community manager.
Rob Evans is named tournament operations manager at BLAST for Rainbow Six: Siege.
Nicholas Venezia joins Mobile Global Esports as its new chief data officer.
Dan Hahn announced that he will be leaving his role as director of talent at X1 Talent (Tyrus) in March.
Jeremy Dunham leaves Rocket League maker Psyonix after nearly nine years at the studio.
Marco Blume will serve as a strategic advisor to Bayes Esports.
William Lucas joins OTK Media as director of sales.
Patrik Jackiewicz is promoted to head of partnerships at Challengermode.
Carla Haces leaves her role as head of PR at Heaven Media.
Emily McMann is promoted to talent coordinator at Night.
Gaming:
Hiroki Totoki is promoted from CFO to president and COO of Sony; Kenichiro Yoshida remains chairman and CEO.
Daniel Ahmad is promoted to director of research & insights at Niko Partners.
Aaron Bergmans joins Golin as an influencer manager in charge of handling Nintendo.
James Temple joins Accenture Song as its new global metaverse lead.
Kyle Stallock joined video game marketplace company Robot Cache as head of community in November.
Other:
Max Porter takes on the new role as deputy editor at DotEsports.
William Archbell is promoted head of platform technology at Citadel Securities.
Laura Byrne has left Swipe Right PR.
Ford James is leaving his role as guides editor at PCGamesN to pursue a new opportunity.
Layal Brown joins Netflix to take on the role of product communications.
Tamalika Biswas Sarkar is promoted to content and editorial manager at GosuGamers India.
Johan Ekberg is promoted to gaming experience manager at ELK Studios.
Vasily Semenov is promoted to COO at Play.Partners.
Adrian Lee is promoted to VP product - core player experience, at Bally’s Interactive.
Albert Pesca is promoted to VP of commercial for Western Europe at Pragmatic Play.
In Other News…
Troubled times at Nerd Street Gamers?
Trouble paying at X1 Entertainment Group?
Trouble with reality at Motorsports Games?
Trouble watching OWL in China?
Trouble with violating SEC rules at Activision Blizzard?