More Activision Blizzard QA Employees Join Walk-Outs To Protest Raven Lay-Offs

Raven Software employees staged a protest yesterday against the unexpected layoffs of a dozen contractors from its QA department. There was a commotion at Call of Duty Support Studio as the terminations affected a third of the entire QA department. Furthermore, several terminated employees had recently been hired and relocated to the studio’s Madison, Wisconsin office – in some instances, out of their own pockets. Protests have continued today and Activision Blizzard employees are joining the ranks.

According to The Washington PostThe virtual walkout started at 10:15 Eastern. It’s unclear how many employees are participating, but it includes QA staff from Activision Blizzard’s Minnesota and Texas offices as well as those at Blizzard’s Irvine California headquarters. All QA employees, even those who were fired, should be given full-time jobs within the company. Activision Blizzard sent its official response to the Post saying, “We support their right to express their opinions and concerns in a safe and respectful manner, without fear of retaliation.” 

Brian Raffel, Raven Studio head, apologized for the confusion and stated that layoffs were actually caused by the studio not renewing temporary employment agreements. Yesterday Activision Blizzard representatives reached out to Game Informer with a statement clarifying that the layoffs are part of a broader restructuring:  

“Activision Publishing increases its investment in development and operations. Over 500 temporary workers will be converted to full-time employment in the coming months. We have also notified 20 studio workers that our temporary employees will not be receiving extensions as part of the change.

The walkout is being shared on Twitter using the hashtag “WeAreRaven,” with many industry workers sharing threads with job openings for the soon-to-be unemployed workers as well their own experiencesWorking with Activision. This week’s events mark Activision’s third employee walkout in five months. The first occurred on July 28 to protest Activision’s “abhorrent” response to the State of California’s ongoing sexual harassment lawsuits. Following a demonstration on July 28, Activision held a second walk-out that took place November 16. Wall Street Journal report revealed that Activision CEO Bobby Kotick was aware for years of Activision’s sexual abuse problems but withheld that knowledge from the board of directors. 

[Source: The Washington Post]