Update 12/06/21 11:30 am Central time: Monday, an Activision spokesperson contacted Game informant with the following statement of layoffs last week at Raven Software, stating that 500 contract employees will become full-time, while 20 contractors have been laid off. The statement can be read below:
“Activision Publishing is increasing its overall investment in its development and operations resources. We are converting about 500 temporary employees into full-time employees in the coming months. Unfortunately, as a As part of this change, we have also notified 20 temporary employees at the studios that their contracts will not be renewed.”
As detailed in a New report from Polygon, employees at Raven Software are preparing to leave work today to protest the termination of 12 contractors last Friday. According to the report, Raven employees are demanding that “Every member of the QA team, including those terminated on Friday, be offered full-time positions.”
You can read Polygon’s Full report here at link.
Update 12/03/21 7:19 pm Central time: A new one report from washington articles More details on layoffs today at Raven Software. According to the source, “at least a dozen” contractors on Raven’s QA team have been laid off. As the outlet points out, that’s about a third of the overall QA department testers. More contractors are expected to be notified between today, December 3, and next Wednesday, December 8, if they are promoted or fired, Washington Post Write.
According to reports, Activision-Blizzard has terminated its HR partnership with Tapfin. Instead, it will expand its partnership with the company Volt. Contractors not affected by today’s layoffs will be Volt employees. They will also get a $1.50 increase, bringing their total hourly rate to $18.50 per hour, plus additional bonuses and benefits, the employee said. Washington Post.
Employees affected by the layoffs will end their contracts on January 28, although according to the outlet’s report, people are allowed to leave the company earlier if they wish. Some have chosen to do that, the outlet said.
Read The Washington Post’s Full report at link.
Original story: Raven Software, one of the main development studios behind Activision’s annual Call of Duty series, has laid off a number of people in its QA department – some of which recently moved to Madison, Wisconsin, where headquarters company.
News of the story first surfaced on Twitter, where Raven team members began posting about the layoffs, criticizing the company’s decision and asking people to contact any potential jobs for affected people. As of this writing, it is unclear how many people have been laid off.
“Our QA team is amazing at work but this will not only increase their workload but also lower morale,” a Raven employee said on Twitter. In a separate tweet, they said the layoffs occurred today after people “were promised, for months, that Activision was working towards a pay restructuring to increase their pay.”
“So sick,” another employee posted on Twitter. “I’ve watched each of my colleagues say they were going to be let go after being promised that things would get better. #FireBobbyKotic instead,” they said, referring to the ongoing issues surrounding Activision CEO Bobby Kotick, whom it has been reported recently knew for many years, as well as neglected to inform his board of directors, about the company problems with sexual misconduct.
According to Raven employees, several members of Raven’s QA department who were affected by today’s layoffs have recently moved to Madison, Wisconsin, to fill their positions. One employee said that some people paid for the move “out of their own pocket.”
According to staff and more report via The Washington Post’s Shannon Liao, the last day for employees to be terminated will be January 28, 2022.
“We’re all reeling from this,” said one employee. “Lots of tears. A lot of people are terrified for their future. So many great, highly competent testers have been fired after YEARS of work after one after another. I am angry. like crumbling.”
This story is still evolving. Game informant Have reached out to Activision for comment and will update the story if we receive a response.
If someone was affected by today’s layoffs, would like to speak to Game informant, the writer of this article can be contacted by email: blakehester@gameinformer.com. Hester is also available through Signal. Message him directly on Twitter for his Signal number. HOLD can guarantee anonymity to anyone who requests it.
