Raven Software staff protesting Activision laying off 20 employees
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Activision Blizzard, a video game holding company famous for its Call of Duty franchise, has confirmed it will layoff 20 temporary workers, and workers call for demonstrating in protest of the decision.
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Activision Blizzard spokesperson said the company has notified 20 “temporary workers” that their contracts won’t be extended.
Raven Software studio staff, renowned for working on the famous Call of Duty franchise, are demonstrating Friday in protest of dozens of layoffs in the Quality Assurance department, reported The Verge.
In a statement, the staff demanded that “every member of the QA team, including those terminated on Friday, must be offered full time positions.”
Although several employees confirmed that their contracts ending on January 28 are in “good standing,” other workers were still unsure about the status of their employment.
The issued statement emphasized the role of these QA workers in Call of Duty: Warzone's success which earns around $5.2 million per day, according to the workers.
“Terminating the contracts of high performing testers in a time of consistent work and profit puts the health of the studio at risk,” the statement read.
The goal of this demonstration is to ensure the continued growth of Raven. Everyone participating in today's demonstration does so with the continued success of the studio at the forefront of their mind.
— ABetterABK 💙 ABK Workers Alliance (@ABetterABK) December 6, 2021
An Activision Blizzard spokesperson said the company has notified 20 “temporary workers” that their contracts won’t be extended.
But another spokesperson confirmed the video game holding company is “converting approximately 500 temporary workers to full-time employees in the coming months.”
In July, employees demonstrated following a California state lawsuit against Activision Blizzard for allegedly allowing “constant sexual harassment" in its workplace environment. In addition, a Wall Street Journal report revealed that the company's CEO Bobby Kotick was allegedly aware of the alleged sexual misconduct for years and was an abuse himself.
