While the worst of the pandemic is clearly over, a few years of making people work from home has shown that a lot of people be happier and even work better if they get to do it where they live. So the decision to force Understandably, employees returning to the office will face resistance across the workforce, and video games are no exception.
Activating blizzard confirmed with Game developer that they own planwas first made public in this Twitter thread by @LeastMyHairIsOkwill see Activision publishers asked to come Come back office on April 10, while Blizzard employees will do so on July 10 (meanwhile, King employees have returned in July 2022).
It should be noted that neither Activision nor Blizzard employees are required to return to the office full-time, as “eemployees of both departments will be required to come to the office three days a week.”
However, it’s still a big concern for both current and future employees, as it’s not just people who still contract Covid and die from it.but three years of remote working have shown a lot of professionals in the gaming industry that they can do their jobs well without the health risks, commute and other obstacles associated with having to move to a certain location to do all one’s work, all while avoiding a global pandemic and battling the cost of living crisis.
LeastMyHairIsOk—a Blizzard employee in customer support—spell it all out in their Twitter threadindicate other problems that have arisen as a result of, or at least with,, epidemic. I have collected them Tweet here:
The majority of employees at ABK are not interested in returning to the office full-time or part-time. This is not to say that no one sees the value in an office environment, but overall, we decided that the risk was no greater. those benefits.
Stay away from the giant elephant in the room – COVID continues to be a threat to lives and abilities despite government guidelines. This is a disease of mass disabling and many of our workers or their families are at high risk of complications if they contract it.
Furthermore, WFH agreements have given employees more time because they don’t lose time when commuting to work. Lower gas/insurance costs, as well as the ability to live away from the expensive cities in which we work, mean more efficient home payments.
This is important because we are currently experiencing an inflationary crisis that ABK has not been able to support. The cost of living has skyrocketed across the country and employees are feeling the strain, with some departments taking effective pay cuts year after year despite the “Grow Up”.
To escape the pressure of increasing CoL and stay safe, employees have cut back. They’ve moved away from our offices in expensive cities, sold or avoided buying cars, and changed the way they handle household chores like childcare and schooling.
For more than a decade now, lower-income divisions have asked leadership to include annual CoL adjustments in wages to prevent this, but have been denied and their most recent meetings I from last month showed that there are no plans to change this this year.
Two to four months is not enough time for a company to change this stance, even if they are willing. Even assuming that, there is not enough time for those who have made the difficult decision to move out, uproot and come back.
Leadership is not prepared for what can happen – the departure of talent as we look for work elsewhere. Other jobs in the tech sector pay better and offer WFH, and clearly our thinking on the matter is inconsistent. What motivates our employees to stay at ABK?
That means the rest of us have to work harder, lowering morale. That means we’ll need to re-hire or outsource, which also means product delays and less polished products coming out this year. All of these factors will lead to even lower employee pay next year.
This RTO plan doesn’t even affect my department, Customer Support, which has been fully WFH with no involuntary RTO plan. However, I feel compelled to speak out for the solidarity of my colleagues. We see you, and we will support you.
Our employees have consistently performed excellently despite WFH restrictions since COVID began. It is unconscionable to throw them back into the office to risk illness and death with the weak excuse of “Better Collaboration”.
ABK management is either maliciously aware of all these factors or actively incompetent. We had years of record earnings while cost-cutting measures like layoffs were consistently justified. WFH is the silver lining that has kept many of us here.
It’s clear what this RTO policy really is – an ultimatum. “Follow our idea of proper working conditions, or walk away.” As for ABK’s leadership, we’ve been flexible long enough. It’s your turn to bend, before you irreparably break this company.
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They’re all solid points and won’t just be something Activision Blizzard has to take into account in the coming months. Any company that tries this will encounter resistance, that’s why smarter companies like Bungie have adjusted their hiring policies to accommodate a more remote workforce.
