Good reflections above.
I have been concerned about this issue, and Remedy’s internal annual report also showed that the published “employee engagement score (EES)” has been on a downward trend for, if I recall correctly, 4-5 years. On the other hand, Remedy’s employee retention has been clearly better than the industry average, and a functional multi-project model should, in principle, maintain good employee retention.
The gaming industry has suffered from massive layoffs, and the industry’s reputation and employment situation are currently very weak. During the COVID years, it was an employee’s market - now it’s an employer’s market. The threshold for resigning is likely high. On the other hand, despite this declining employee satisfaction, Alan Wake 2 was released as a high-quality product, competing with the world’s best game series like Zelda and Baldur’s Gate for GOTY (Game of the Year).
There might also be some stiffness in the Finnish work culture. I don’t believe the company practices ‘management by perkelettä’ (management by ‘devil’ or ‘damn it’, implying harsh/authoritarian management), but the difference in work culture compared to, for example, the United States or France, might be a shock for foreign employees. Here, the culture might be more hierarchical and rigid than elsewhere, which, on the other hand, is not necessarily a bad thing. In the IT sector, I’ve heard examples of quite wild and free remote work cultures, relative to one’s own values. Slow career progression has also been complained about. Although the company has not been a huge stock market success, unless one has owned shares since its listing, after Control and Alan Wake 2, the company is still among the world’s best AAA developers. Since, as I understand it, the company has a very skilled, committed, and long-serving senior staff, progression is inherently slow in a company of a few hundred people.
Employee satisfaction began to decline with the ramp-up of the multi-project model, which is quite understandable. Especially when too many projects were taken on relative to their own capabilities and resources. Employees on Glassdoor criticized the unrealistic production pipeline long before the shutdown of Vanguard/Kestrel.
In my opinion, it is now important to monitor how EES and Glassdoor ratings develop going forward, as the multi-project model should offer all employees sensible and continuous work, and the company should be more focused with one less game project. I recall that management has also been challenged on this topic in Inderes interviews as well as at general meetings.
It is also noteworthy that the departure of the HR Director, who served on the company’s management team, was announced in 9/2023, and the company stated that a successor would be sought as quickly as possible. Nothing has been heard about this since then; perhaps HR functions no longer belong to the management team. Furthermore, the new strategy no longer aims to be Europe’s most desired employer in the gaming industry, as it did previously, which is a notable change.
In any case, this is an important point, and I believe it’s crucial to monitor the development of employee experience trends – it is a huge asset, but also a risk for the company.
In Remedy’s case, I wouldn’t be worried, as long as top-notch products keep coming out. In any case, “we’ll monitor the situation,” said the doctor from the welfare area.
- a big problem in PC testing is that there’s an infinite number of different machine configurations, and rare compatibility issues can’t possibly be caught in internal testing except by incredible luck.