For those that don't read to the end...<p><i>> Due to an internal technical error, applicants to our Production Design Initiative (PDI) program received an email that had not been edited or fact-checked and was not intended to be widely distributed. As an early draft, the data points included in the email (such as “more than 75% of our members are unemployed and many have not been working for 18 months or more”) were not fact-checked and may be inaccurate...</i><p><i>> ...This temporary pause in our PDI program during a year of contract negotiation gives our staff and membership the ability to focus on our movement of “Many Crafts, One Fight.” This labor movement alongside our peers and colleagues only strengthens our excitement for the future of the industry.</i><p><i>> We plan to resume the PDI program in 2025.</i>
To me, the "updated" statement sounds like they are "halfway" back pedaling due to some external pressure or outcry... Probably the leadership got their mind right by someone, and decided that the original statement is too harshly phrased, so they made up the "draft, technical error" story.<p>> As an early draft, the data points included in the email (such as “more than 75% of our members are unemployed and many have not been working for 18 months or more”) were not fact-checked and may be inaccurate.<p>May be inaccurate? Well damn, is it or is it not?
I feel the same way about coding. I teach coding courses but I feel like a hypocrite. The great irony is that there are so few jobs for competent, experienced coders that I can't find a job coding myself so I have to teach it instead.<p>Though I guess maybe the market for junior coders may be OK? I feel like the last thing companies want are jaded senior engineers. They don't seem to care about security vulnerabilities and such.<p>I feel like one of the people selling shovels at the end of the gold rush. Though I guess coding is a good supplementary skill to have. A lot of my students are from other industries.<p>Once you've seen how the sausage is made in this industry, nobody wants you as a coder. They must assume that you're going to be a bitter old fart and cannot be relied on... I'm not even 40. It's particularly ironic since I have a perfect record in terms of integrity. There are millions of dollars of crypto relying on my open source software... The founders of the project are basically my enemies (treated me very badly for no good reason). I've been trusted with millions of dollars of crypto for half a decade in spite of personal financial struggles, being out of a job and having multiple citizenships with non-extradition policies. I'm the embodiment of perfect integrity in the face of adversity, yet seemingly cannot be relied on? That's why I sometimes entertain conspiracy theories about people in high positions being controlled via blackmail... If the system doesn't rely on (and doesn't value) individuals with proven high integrity, it must surely rely on (and value) compromised individuals acting purely in their self-interest.
I think there are a lot of things holding back employment for that group, starting with the state of the economy. But multiple things.<p>It does seem like we are rapidly moving towards a world where most jobs are basically configuring groups of AIs or robots to work towards some kind of goal. And pretty quickly the AIs can do the configuration better than a person.
> Given this situation we cannot in good conscience encourage you to pursue our profession while so many of our members remain unemployed. This is due to multiple reasons, the 2023 strikes, the on-going 2024 labor negotiations, and a once in a generation change within the entertainment industry as it searches for new business models to govern its content creation and distribution.<p>Let this be a lesson who think that labor relations are some sort of battle between good and evil and if only the "right" side wins, then your industry will be saved.<p>No. There are only markets and incentives. And if an industry is being massively disrupted, attempts to freeze that industry in time are going to fail. With broken hearts and lives along the way.<p>Yeah, sure, you might be able to push a little bit against the largest players in a market, but if you are too successful then that is only going to cause the smaller players to use the disruption to their advantage and to overtake said larger players.<p>Instead of staking your career or life on an unwinnable battle against disruption that could only possibly delay things by a few years, you are going to be much better off getting with the times and seeing how you can modify your career and work so it is compatible with or takes advantage of said disruption.