Are Employers Discriminating Against MMO Players?

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Are Employers Discriminating Against MMO Players?

Tue, Dec 16, 2008

Are you one of the many unemployed Americans looking for work? Do you happen to play MMOs? If so, you may be able to blame your gameplaying habits on your lack of current employment. (And feel free to tell your significant other you were discriminated against, and that’s why you didn’t get the job.)

In a recent forum thread over at F13.net (via Raph’s Website), forum user Tales shares the story of his former MMO playing habits coming up in conversation with a recruiter, who then told him employers specifically instruct him to not send them World of Warcraft players.

At first I was a little surprised, but then when I realized how many people in the business world view WoW players (especially those who have no idea what it is outside of what they hear in the news) I wasn’t too shocked. But, I was curious: is that true?

I called two people I know who are in charge of recruiting: one I went to school with who was hired into HR at a Portland accounting firm, and a guy I met years ago at Comic-Con who handles recruiting for a student-oriented sales program.

Said the HR rep: “They said that? Really? I guess it’s sort of true. I got told when we’re looking over recruits to bring in for internships or entry level, we’re supposed to avoid people with ‘non-work related addictions or hobbies that may interfere with time spent at work.’ They never told me to specifically avoid MMO players, but ‘playing WoW’ was one of the signs on the list of things to look for.” I’d like to note that this person played tons of WoW and DAoC during college, and even more UO back in the day, but obviously he never brought it up before he got hired.

Said the other who deals specifically with hiring college-aged students: “Oh, definitely. If I know someone who is playing [World of] Warcraft and I have people just as qualified but don’t play it, chances are that person will get the job because I know their mind is going to stay focused on work. I’ve hired lots of Warcraft players over the years without many problems, though, so maybe I’ll have to look into changing that.”

Both requested I not use their names or their companies in this article, but is that really surprising? When two completely different organizations both tend to shy away from self-admitted MMO players during hiring, I probably wouldn’t want to tell a website for gamers where I worked, either.

Not all is hopeless, though. I called several branches of Volt (one of the larger staffing agencies in the country), and while most had no idea what I was asking ("You want to be hired for World of Warcraft?" was a typical response), two did get back to me. Said one of their employees, “I’ve never heard of such policies, but it wouldn’t surprise me if they existed.” The other shared similar sentiments. “I’ve never had anyone tell me ‘don’t hire WoW players,’ but I hope that it isn’t true. I’d hate to stop playing my Druid because a possible employer didn’t like it.”

So is this tendency of companies avoiding MMO players a larger trend? Is it just a coincidence that two of the three people I called stated that they have some sort of anti-MMO? (I don’t believe it’s specifically anti-WoW; that’s just the only MMO most non-gamers know of.)

If true, I find it a little odd that people are shying away from MMO players, yet have no problem with fantasy sports aficionados. As a fantasy football/basketball/baseball fan myself, I know how much time I’ve spent at work in the past looking at stats and setting lineups. And that's just one thing; there are literally thousands of hobbies that could interfere with work if a person has Internet access, a book, or a cell phone.

Anyone here work in recruiting or have their own personal stories to share? I'd really like to find out just how far this belief and practice goes.

discriminate, discrimination, disturbing, employment, hiring, MMO, MMORPG, recruiters, Volt, world of warcraft, WoW

This post was written by:

Brendon Lindsey - who has written 274 posts on GameCyte.

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4 Comments For This Post

Dan Taylor Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 1:57 am
I do not currently work in recruitment, but used to serve as the national recruitment manager for a nationwide fundraising organization. In other words, at the end of the day, policies were written by me.

Personally, I am an MMO player, and know the positive outcomes of playing in MMO's (team collaboration, strategy and tactics scenarios, pre-planning and organization, etc.). On one side of the coin, I'll admit, I've spent working hours thinking about the evening's upcoming Kara run and wondering if I need to go grab some wizard oil before meeting up at the stone, but you make a very valid point with fantasy sports leagues.

At the end of the day, recruiters just get instructions from above on who the company wants and who they do not want. Sadly, an HR director has been misinformed about MMO players and the community that they take part in. So much for work/life balance. And if this is the case - is this the kind of place you really want to be working?
Brendon Lindsey Says:
December 17th, 2008 at 12:00 pm
You make some very good points, Dan. Specifically about "It's not up to them, it's what they're told."

As for the last part, though -- "is this the kind of place you really want to be working?" -- I think I can speak on behalf of many Americans who would say "Hell yes!" in the current economic climate. I've seen people with Masters degrees and years of experience at multi-million dollar companies running divisions submit applications to Target and Albertsons. So I think for a short while, they wouldn't mind too much =P
Cheap WoW Gold Says:
January 30th, 2009 at 11:33 am
I've read a couple of articles related to this one. True or not, it's a sad thought to know if the employers discriminate applicants who just wanted to work for real money to live a real life beyond the game.
Dan Taylor Says:
February 10th, 2009 at 2:17 am
@Brendon

I'm sure you've seen this, but give Darren's article re: gaming skills in a job interview:

http://www.pcworld.com/article/159039/play_games_with_your_resume.html

Pretty interesting stuff. And MIT has an Education Arcade Program? News to me.

Re: your point about taking the job - sadly, I'll have to agree with you. Sometimes, A job is better than NO job.

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