A report commissioned by the Financial Services Union (FSU) into the working conditions of game workers in Ireland raises serious questions for employers according to Gareth Murphy, head of industrial relations and campaigns with FSU.

The report “What’s the Score?”, which was written by two academics Josh Moody and Aphra Kerr, is based on data gathered by Game Workers Unite Ireland over the past year in an online survey. A total of 223 respondents had completed the survey, which is estimated to be about 11.5% of the workforce.

It finds some worrying issues regarding low pay, unpaid overtime, a gender pay gap and lack of job security.

Some key points from the report include:

*64% of respondents have experienced low pay with 82.5% earning below the average wage.
*86% of female respondents earn less than 3,000 per month, for comparison, 58% of males earn 2,000/m or more while 72% of females earn 2,000/m or less.
*62% of survey respondents do not have secure employment contracts
*55.5% have been required to work crunch time in their jobs – (long periods of overtime at the end of a project to hit the deadline) in their jobs
*45% of respondents note working unpaid overtime.
*12% have experienced harassment and/or intimidation based on their gender, ethnicity, age or sexuality.

“The games industry is an expanding and highly profitable business sector in Ireland, yet the conditions of work are relatively poor. The issues raised in the report demonstrate why workers are coming together to campaign for better conditions.  This sector can afford to be better for those working in it.” stated Mr Murphy

Commenting on the report Ellen Cunningham, Coordinator of Game Worker Unite Ireland (GWU Ireland), said:

“Workers in the games industry deserve a decent living wage, to see an end to the gender pay gap , to see an end to unpaid overtime, to see an end to undocumented and unhealthy overtime hours and should be able to expect secure and reasonable contracts. Workers should not have to choose between quality of life or pursuing a career in the game industry.”

Notes:

  1. Games Workers Unite is an international worker-led movement to organise and unionise global game workers in pursuit of fairer working conditions. Game Workers Unite Ireland is the official Irish chapter of GWU and has established official union status through its affiliation with the Financial Services Union (FSU)2. The Irish chapter is worker-led and collaborates with union organisers and academics to build an organised community which can represent workers across the industry.

You can download the full report online at https://gwuireland.org/