‘Graduates are not slave labour,’ says EA’s Jeffrey

In an impassioned talk to the assembled developers and academics at the Develop conference’s Games:Edu ’07, EA’s head of European studio recruitment Matthew Jeffrey has warned that developers should take advantage of the large pool of talented graduates – or risk losing them overseas.

Explaining that many developers feel scared of the costs of training recent graduates, Jeffrey was quick to tell the audience that every studio should be training its staff, even if it’s only on-the-job training or simply assigning junior staff members to observe more skilled staff.

He revealed that for the European studios 33 per cent of their intake are graduates – something EA values because graduates are often free of ‘baggage’ and are more willing to challenge the status quo.

Finally, Jeffrey noted that today’s workforce are more mobile, and willing to move to other locales for better job opportunities or better pay. As such, he warned studios to be aware that if they don’t recognise the immense mass of graduate talent in the UK, it will quickly leave the country and cause the UK to slide even further down development league tables.