FYI: Regarding recent staff changes

[Yeata Zi]

I hope that everyone can get a shinning recommendation for their next job interview(s).

I am purty sad about this, but I understand.

Still, guhhhhh.

[siskataya]

Milk Kittea

Thanks for the update, Sisky. <3 I know it has to be difficult for everyone.
I really do appreciate the hard work the entire staff puts into Gaia, both old & new.

Thanks for the kind words Milk Kittea emotion_hug I think this is difficult for all fo us, whether you are a staff member or not. I'll forward along your kind words to the team biggrin

[siskataya]

Yeata Zi

I hope that everyone can get a shinning recommendation for their next job interview(s).

I am purty sad about this, but I understand.

Still, guhhhhh.

guhhhhhhh indeed! That perfectly sums up my feelings about everything. Perhaps with a dash of blahhhhhhhhhhhh and a pinch of Murp!

Keep on being awesome Yeata Zi! biggrin

[siskataya]

Bornes

(Former) Gaia staff: Just because you are no longer staff doesn't mean you can't go to Gaia Online IRL meetups! I'm sure many gaians would still love to meet you! 3nodding

Thanks for the nice message, and the great suggestion! I'll pass it along to the staff ^^

[KaylaGalela]

Ridley Starsmore

This just seems like it came up very suddenly.

Change is one thing, but this doesn't feel right at all. I looked over the list of ones that we know about, and....Pan, Buki, Prism, JK...these aren't just random staff.

These are people that we as Gaians not only have come to know, but respect as well.

Something isn't right in those offices. I thought I imagined it when I visited, but...you guys don't have the livelihood the place was once known for.

I know Gaia Interactive is a business. No one is debating that point, but I think someone there lost sight of what Gaia is. it's not about selling items and crunching sales figures.

Gaia was founded when a couple friends got together, and shared the love of a common interest and invited others to join in. Along the way, more people were brought in as the site grew, but it didn't lose that spark that made the site special.

But the past few years, it's been harder and harder to justify actions taken by those who get to make certain calls. I get that layoffs happen to keep a company afloat, but these people were not known for being bad workers, and are incredibly well known in the user community.

And Many of them come from the HoC team too, from what I have been hearing. I might be wrong about it, but it sounds like someone's being tossed under the proverbial bus.

No...It's not sounding good at all.

Alas, I don't think we will be made privy to the specifics behind these changes.

I know GaiaOnline was once a more freely-run project, but as things expand and become more popular, they inevitably become more structured too. Something usually gets lost in the process.

[Yeata Zi]

siskataya

Yeata Zi

I hope that everyone can get a shinning recommendation for their next job interview(s).

I am purty sad about this, but I understand.

Still, guhhhhh.

guhhhhhhh indeed! That perfectly sums up my feelings about everything. Perhaps with a dash of blahhhhhhhhhhhh and a pinch of Murp!

Keep on being awesome Yeata Zi! biggrin

I do hate when I come back from a hard day stuck in a lab, followed by the stressful event of forcing all my 62 undergrads to clean the organic teaching lab... only to find trouble at the place I come to relax.

But I am quite certain there are many taking it far harder than me, especially the folks in the Gaia HQ.

But man! Huge bummer! Makes me quite sad!

[Milk Kittea]

siskataya

Milk Kittea

Thanks for the update, Sisky. <3 I know it has to be difficult for everyone.
I really do appreciate the hard work the entire staff puts into Gaia, both old & new.

Thanks for the kind words Milk Kittea emotion_hug I think this is difficult for all fo us, whether you are a staff member or not. I'll forward along your kind words to the team biggrin

Oh, you're very welcome. <3 I appreciate you passing on the message.

I went through a similar situation for an online company I worked for a few years ago, only I had been on the other end & was let go. (The economy had just crashed. It was a hard time, to say the least.) As difficult as the situation was for everyone to bear, I was never once angry with the company. I had such a huge respect for it & everything it stood for-- after all, it had treated me well for years. Life went on & I still hold the highest respect for the company.

The first few days (or even weeks) are the most bitter, but life goes on & people feel better after a while. *hugs* Thanks for being the voice of the staff to help keep the users in the ring of things. From experience as a site support admin, I know how challenging that can be.

[Twisted Lady]

Who all was let go? What happens to the projects they were working on?

[Ridley Starsmore]

KaylaGalela

Alas, I don't think we will be made privy to the specifics behind these changes.

I know GaiaOnline was once a more freely-run project, but as things expand and become more popular, they inevitably become more structured too. Something usually gets lost in the process.

I am not saying that we deserve to know. We are not part of the company, but customers.

And something tells me if we knew all of it, the whole matter would just get worse.

I'm just saying that there seems to be a loss of connection to the userbase. Save for Sisky, very few seem to be as connected to the community on the whole.

Funny...my captcha says 'labour of love'

That's what this place is for not just many of the staff, but a lot of the users.

I just wouldn't want the place to lose that sense of...well, family if you will, that it's had in the past.

[Bleeding Apocalypse]

Words cannot fully express the sadness. Seriously.

I'll miss them terribly.

[Chibi Halo]

Thanks for sharing with us what's going on at the office Sisky. It definitely helps quell some of the negativity surrounding this. I guess I'm able to look at this entire situation objectively from being on both sides of a situation like this and having family members who have dealt with being let go themselves. It's never easy to have to let someone go because the company just simply can not make ends meet by keeping the numbers they have. If it means letting go people with a higher pay grade in order to survive then that's what has to be done. No one wants to do something like this at all. No one wants to be the one to call people into their office to tell them they have to be let go and why. And no one wants to be that person who gets that call to be told they were let go.

That said, to the people who were let go yes it hurts right now and you have nothing to look forward to each day but don't let that get you down. You will find a way to make it through each day. Treat each day like you were going to work. Keep the routine you had when you were employed. Don't let not having a job right now get you down. Keep your presence out there and keep an eye out on the industry in your area to see who might be hiring. You will survive and you will go on each day. Things will get better as time goes on so don't lose hope. You may not be employed with Gaia anymore but this will still be your home so please don't feel like you can't come back here anymore because you don't have a job with them anymore. A lot of people have close connections with you and it would be a shame not to keep them.

[Rabid-Turtle]

Wishing everyone all the best and hoping that they all land on their feet. The site wont feel the same without them.

[stan Ioona]

❝ Only recently have I been getting into those who help make Gaia what it is, but I still feel for those who are gone.

I wish them the best of luck, and hope they can keep their hopes high. ❞

[Halfling Heroine]

I wish everyone the best of luck...they'll be sorely missed!

[Elen_Gilthoniel]

I am so saddened by this. Lay offs are distressing, no matter the reason. I am glad you made a statement about it, Sisky--these kinds of things are worrying for users even when we're not directly affected. I am just really sad we lost such awesome and talented people. Because you guys are far more than just employees. You're also part of the community.

I definitely send every positive thought and every bit of luck possible to those who have left. We will miss all of you terribly.