Ubisoft hasn’t had the best few years. A string of failures and disappointments means the company isn’t in top shape as it heads into 2023, So in an attempt to get people fired last week, CEO Yves Guillemot emailed employees tell them “The ball is in your court”. It didn’t go down well.
In fact, it’s so bad that one of these emails can be received, doing everything from blaming employees for poor results to campaigning for more work. As a result, the Solidaires Informatique union—whose members are at Ubisoft’s Paris offices—have called for a strike next week.
The union is calling for a strike not only to protest against Guillemot’s dismissive comments but also to call for better pay and conditions at the company, especially a 10% pay rise to tackle the inflation crisis. and implement a four-day workweek.
Here is their full statement:
CALLING TO Strike UBISOFT PARIS
FRIDAY JANUARY 27 – PM ONLY
According to Guillemot:
THE BALL IS IN OUR COURT
(but the money is still in his pocket)
In his latest statement, Mr. Guillemot heralds a worrisome future for Ubisoft.
If asking employees to “be especially careful and strategic with your spending” is ironic considering the company’s editorial strategy over the past few years, it’s not funny. When Mr. Guillemot speaks of “attrition” and “organizational adjustment”, it means: layoffs, discreet studio closures, pay cuts, disguised layoffs, etc.
In some cases, Mr. Guillemot is trying to put the blame (again) on employees; he expects us to be mobilized, to “give our best”, to be “as efficient and as lean as possible”. These words mean something: overtime, management pressure, burnout, etc.
Mr. Guillemot demanded a lot from his employees, but did not receive any remuneration. • Are wages keeping up with high inflation in recent years?
• What about implementing a 4-day week?
• What was applied to teams that were exhausted after the end of production (like Just Dance or Mario’s)?
We ask for:
– an immediate 10% increase in all wages, regardless of the annual increase, to compensate for inflation. With hundreds of millions of euros in revenue from Tencent, employers have money.
– improved working conditions, especially the implementation of the 4-day week.
– transparency about workforce development, both locally and globally.
– a strong commitment against disguised layoffs and condemnation of abusive management policies that force employees to resign.
And because Mr. Guillemot and his clique only understand power relationships, Solidaires Informatique is calling on Ubisoft Paris employees to go on strike on the afternoon of Friday, January 27, from 2 to 6 p.m.
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Next fiscal year, which runs through March 2024, Ubisoft said it plans to release at least one additional unannounced big game besides Skull and Bones, Avatar, and Assassin’s Creed Mirage. Guillemot calls it “the biggest pipeline in Ubisoft history” in his email to staff and said he’s excited to share more at this year’s E3 conference in June.
