Publishing powerhouse Activision Blizzard is reportedly informing its US staff that working from home full-time is no longer on the cards, and requires its staff to return to the office in the near future.
That’s at least according to two employees on social media, who claimed the Call of Duty publisher said on Monday that they are cooking up a ‘return to office plan’ which will see staff forced to return to working at the office from a certain date.
This is despite the fact many companies have continued to allow their staff to work from home despite the coronavirus pandemic having died down enough to allow workers to return to the office. Having said that, there always remains the risk of the virus even though lockdowns have long since ended.
Here’s what LeastMyHairIsOk had to say on the matter, who noted on their profile that the work for Blizzard:
Today, Activision and Blizzard announced a return to office plan to employees. It begins April/June, depending on the studio. The company will see a large reduction in force if this occurs. The majority of employees at ABK have no interest in returning to office either full or part time. This isn’t to say that nobody sees the value in an office environment, but we’ve overall decided the risks do not outweigh those benefits.
For over a decade now, lower earning departments have pleaded with leadership to include yearly CoL adjustments into salary to prevent this, but been denied, and our most recent meetings from last month suggest that there are no plans for this to change this year.
Two to four months is not enough time for the company to shift this stance, even if they were willing. Even assuming they are, it is not enough time for those who made the hard decision to move away to uproot and return.
Elsewhere, Reddit user DrHilarious_PHD, who claims to work for Activision QQ, revealed that a number of employees s “walked out or stopped working today after receiving the news of forced return to office for three days a week and [to work] virtual for two days of the week.”
In addition, the user also posted an alleged leaked internal email sent by Activision HR:
As mentioned on today’s townhall, Activision is requiring employees to return to office, beginning April 10, 2023. Our working model for Activision QA in El Segundo, Austin, and Minneapolis requires employees to be in the office three days a week and work remotely two days a week.
The expectation is for employees to be within a reasonable commute to the office they were hired for. As a result, there are no permanent remote work opportunities within QA.
[Source – LeastMyHairIsOk on Twitter, Reddit via VGC]