In context: Activision Blizzard has been embroiled in controversy for the higher a part of a yr after being hit with lawsuits, formal investigations, and numerous different authorized actions surrounding alleged circumstances of worker discrimination, harassment, and common mistreatment. Some staff even went on strike in response to the abrupt firing of a number of members of Activision Blizzard’s “Raven” QA workforce.
Those protests have already ended, however they could have had a optimistic impression on Activision Blizzard’s hiring and worker compensation insurance policies. Activision Blizzard has simply transformed a whopping 1,100 of its part-time staff to full-time staff, which was one of many main protest calls for. This change will give impacted staff further advantages, together with entry to bonuses and different perks of full-time labor.
Activision Blizzard says it already made an analogous transfer final yr when it transformed 500 “temp and contract roles” to full-time positions company-wide. The firm can be growing the minimal pay for these positions to $20 per hour — a coverage change that may take impact on April 17.
This is nice information for Activision Blizzard’s staff, and it is one of many first concrete steps the company has taken to do proper by its staff for the reason that worker mistreatment debacle first got here to mild. The firm claims that right now’s information represents a 25 p.c improve within the variety of full-time staff it employs, which is a really substantial shift.
These adjustments should not coming at the price of the unionization course of that Raven QA staff started lately. Activision Blizzard assures the general public that the optimistic enhancements it is implementing are completely separate and never contingent on unionization stopping. Indeed, Raven staff have already fashioned a union referred to as the “Game Workers Alliance,” however Activision Blizzard has so far refused to acknowledge the group.
The GWA hopes to compel recognition quickly by going on to the National Labor Relations Board and holding a vote. If the GWA’s push succeeds with not less than 50 p.c of Raven staff voting in favor, Activision Blizzard might be pressured to barter with the brand new union.
As GamesIndustry factors out, nonetheless, Blizzard is ‘restructuring’ to unfold out QA members throughout completely different studios quite than centralizing them at Raven HQ. This may throw a little bit of a wrench into the works, however we’ll simply have to attend and see to make certain.