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Author Topic: Layoffs at istock  (Read 135944 times)

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« Reply #525 on: January 23, 2012, 14:41 »
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Well I've had my 7 out of 10 accepted at SS, time to make a big decision I suppose. To jump or not to jump.


« Reply #526 on: January 23, 2012, 14:50 »
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With apologies to the bard:

To jump, or not to jump: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the bank balance to suffer
The ebb and flow of outrageous RCs,
Or to take action against a sea of troubles,
And by diversifying end them?

RacePhoto

« Reply #527 on: January 23, 2012, 14:53 »
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With apologies to the bard:

To jump, or not to jump: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the bank balance to suffer
The ebb and flow of outrageous RCs,
Or to take action against a sea of troubles,
And by diversifying end them?

Love it, that's two in one day. Yours and the gostwyck  first rule of MicroStock. (briefly stated, good images will sell)

« Reply #528 on: January 23, 2012, 14:56 »
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Well I've had my 7 out of 10 accepted at SS, time to make a big decision I suppose. To jump or not to jump.
That was quick. Like a bandaid.

« Reply #529 on: January 23, 2012, 15:04 »
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On top of the redundancies it's not encouraging to see that  - far as I can tell from www.istockphoto.com/istock_careers - there are no open positions at any level or skillset at the company.


That's because you are looking in the wrong place.  This is now Getty, not iStock.  Check here and you'll see a boatload of job openings for Seattle along with many others sprinkled around the world.
http://www.gettyimagesjobs.com/




Good point Jami.  But wouldn't you think they'd offer some of those Getty jobs to Istock people rather than just laying them off?  Seems odd, but then I don't claim to understand the workings of the corporate mindset... ???


I suppose it depends on the real reason behind the layoffs. Actually, we don't know.

« Reply #530 on: January 23, 2012, 15:35 »
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Well I've had my 7 out of 10 accepted at SS, time to make a big decision I suppose. To jump or not to jump.
That was quick. Like a bandaid.

Meaning you started the 30-day clock?

« Reply #531 on: January 23, 2012, 15:37 »
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I suppose it depends on the real reason behind the layoffs. Actually, we don't know.


Yes we do __ some of the reasons were in the announcement. More of Istock's functions will be moving in-house to Getty. Plus of course any business that is losing sales needs fewer staff to service customers and needs to reduce costs.

Conversely when a business is doing well, like SS for example, then they start "hiring like crazy" as recently reported. There's 34 'career opportunities' at Shutterstock on this link;

http://www.simplyhired.com/a/jobs/list/c-shutterstock

« Reply #532 on: January 23, 2012, 15:44 »
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Someone may want to sell their home, leave town, have their partner leave their job, and go to Seattle, for what? Working for Getty in an unsure market, for a company in transition, where people are getting let go? Would you do that?

Well, if it's good enough for Kelly Thompson then its goo.... Oh! Hang on! I think I see what you mean.

lagereek

« Reply #533 on: January 23, 2012, 16:01 »
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Yes but its not only bad sales, its the whole situation in micro, Just look around, there are agencies and little hole in the wall outfits everywhere. Its bound to come to a halt, sooner or later.
Few years back, we used to say, oh! well, there is room for everybody, but there isnt, not anymore, we used to say, the cream will always rise but in a multi-million search, the cream gets lost forever. Its all a fallacy really.
The noose is tightening, soon there will hardly be any ellbow room for a fulltime stockphotographer or even try to make a living out of stock.

Todays buyers are so easily satisfied, they just about buy any old rubbish, the cheaper the better, forget quality, its become an alien word.

All things considered, I suppose many of us are still doing well but the question is,  for how long? I heard somewhere, all in all, its thousands of applicants to differant agencies per/week!  and I bet the majority gets in, giving room for more irrelevant material, more clogging up files and more spamming. Its like a ticking bomb, isnt it, exploading anytime.

RacePhoto

« Reply #534 on: January 23, 2012, 16:08 »
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Someone may want to sell their home, leave town, have their partner leave their job, and go to Seattle, for what? Working for Getty in an unsure market, for a company in transition, where people are getting let go? Would you do that?

Well, if it's good enough for Kelly Thompson then its goo.... Oh! Hang on! I think I see what you mean.

Yes and I forgot maybe some people were relieved to be out of that employer's ranks!  :D

Fired? Well that's a relief, Thank You! LOL

« Reply #535 on: January 23, 2012, 16:29 »
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I spent 30 years in the technology business.  One thing I think I learned - from the experiences of friends and co-workers - is that one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to relocate to chase a job.   It only makes sense if you're moving to a big city AND one you'd really like to live in.  The reason is that your wonderful new job is likely to last a couple of years at most, and then, there you are - in a new city, without a job or a network.

« Reply #536 on: January 23, 2012, 16:40 »
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It's cheaper to fire employees and hire new people in another location than it is to relocate existing employees.

It also may be that the current employees were considered and not chosen as the best people for what needed to be done.

It seems to me there were too many istock chefs in the getty/h&f kitchen.   

« Reply #537 on: January 23, 2012, 16:59 »
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It's cheaper to fire employees and hire new people in another location than it is to relocate existing employees.

It also may be that the current employees were considered and not chosen as the best people for what needed to be done.

Yeah, that's what I was thinking.

« Reply #538 on: January 23, 2012, 17:02 »
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With apologies to the bard:

To jump, or not to jump: that is the question:
Whether 'tis nobler in the bank balance to suffer
The ebb and flow of outrageous RCs,
Or to take action against a sea of troubles,
And by diversifying end them?

 :D

edit: what thread is gostwycks first rule of microstock in?

mlwinphoto

« Reply #539 on: January 23, 2012, 17:20 »
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Would you leave your country and move to Seattle?

I hear the coffee is good there and the climate is kind of mild? Someone may want to sell their home, leave town, have their partner leave their job, and go to Seattle, for what? Working for Getty in an unsure market, for a company in transition, where people are getting let go? Would you do that?


The climate is mild (with the exception of last week) and the coffee is great....along with the scenery.  But, Seattle is all full; no room left; traffic is terrible, housing is expensive and hard to find....best to stay where you are..... ;)

ShadySue

  • There is a crack in everything
« Reply #540 on: January 23, 2012, 17:50 »
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I spent 30 years in the technology business.  One thing I think I learned - from the experiences of friends and co-workers - is that one of the biggest mistakes you can make is to relocate to chase a job.   It only makes sense if you're moving to a big city AND one you'd really like to live in.  The reason is that your wonderful new job is likely to last a couple of years at most, and then, there you are - in a new city, without a job or a network.
I've know couples who have split up because of an enforced move too.

Also, I don't know how different, if any, the Canadian education system is from the USian system. The US system is vastly different from the Scottish, which itself is so far different from the English that it can make a big difference moving between them. Often it means a child being put back a year, especially in secondary schools where they could be preparing for their major exams. So much so, that my next door neighbour, on having a forced move, chose to keep his house here, stay in digs Monday to Thursday while working in England and drove up after work on Friday and left home about 4 a.m. on a Monday to work in England, to keep his kids in the system they knew. And gratefully took redundancy (or very early retirement?) a few years later.

So no, for someone in a serious relationship or with family (children or perhaps even more so, aging parents), a big move is not necessarily an easy option.

« Reply #541 on: January 23, 2012, 17:53 »
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Have you compared your projected downloads at Istock for this month with Jan 2010 yet? I was staggered to find that my own downloads are likely to be down about 50%, possibly worse __ in just one year.

I know we independent contributors are not helped by the current best match but even so that's an astonishing decline in sales. If that's how things are going at Istock then the latest redundancies are unlikely to be the last.

helix7

« Reply #542 on: January 23, 2012, 18:13 »
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It also may be that the current employees were considered and not chosen as the best people for what needed to be done.

Interesting that Getty decided that all 30 redundancies in positions were best filled by Getty folks. Not one exception as far as we know.

That's not really a merging of ideas. More of a takeover, really.

« Reply #543 on: January 23, 2012, 18:18 »
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It also may be that the current employees were considered and not chosen as the best people for what needed to be done.

Interesting that Getty decided that all 30 redundancies in positions were best filled by Getty folks. Not one exception as far as we know.

That's not really a merging of ideas. More of a takeover, really.
If all the people booted were in IT it might be explainable.

« Reply #544 on: January 23, 2012, 23:43 »
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Have you compared your projected downloads at Istock for this month with Jan 2010 yet? I was staggered to find that my own downloads are likely to be down about 50%, possibly worse __ in just one year.

I know we independent contributors are not helped by the current best match but even so that's an astonishing decline in sales. If that's how things are going at Istock then the latest redundancies are unlikely to be the last.

Same here. It will probably be up on December, but only just.

« Reply #545 on: January 24, 2012, 10:57 »
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Looks like we're going to be getting another update today and hopefully some answers to some burning questions.

« Reply #546 on: January 24, 2012, 11:20 »
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Looks like we're going to be getting another update today and hopefully some answers to some burning questions.

I don't have any 'burning questions'. Istock isn't that important any more.

michealo

« Reply #547 on: January 24, 2012, 11:29 »
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Looks like we're going to be getting another update today and hopefully some answers to some burning questions.

answers? you are kidding right? :-)

lisafx

« Reply #548 on: January 24, 2012, 11:54 »
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Looks like we're going to be getting another update today and hopefully some answers to some burning questions.

answers? you are kidding right? :-)

I have gotten to the point where the prospect of upcoming announcements from Istock brass fills me with dread. 

wds

« Reply #549 on: January 24, 2012, 11:58 »
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Have you compared your projected downloads at Istock for this month with Jan 2010 yet? I was staggered to find that my own downloads are likely to be down about 50%, possibly worse __ in just one year.

I know we independent contributors are not helped by the current best match but even so that's an astonishing decline in sales. If that's how things are going at Istock then the latest redundancies are unlikely to be the last.

I'm an exclusive on iStock and January is shaping up to be a horrid month.


 

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