Last week, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot despatched a letter to all employees during which he requested workers to “give it [their] all” and to be “as environment friendly and lean as doable.” French union Solidaires Informatique have written their very own letter at present, arguing that Guillemot’s “phrases imply one thing: extra time, managerial stress, burnout, and many others.”
In response, they’re calling for Ubisoft Paris workers to strike from 2 to 6pm on Friday, January twenty seventh, with calls for that embrace an “quick 10% enhance for all salaries” and the “implementation of a 4-day week.”
The union tweeted the call to strike earlier today, with open letters shared in each French and English.
“If the request to workers to be ‘particularly cautious and strategic together with your spending’ is ironic contemplating the corporate’s editorial technique of the previous few years, it’s not humorous,” says the letter. “When Mr. Guillemot speaks of ‘attrition’ and ‘organizational changes’, it means: employees reductions, discreet studio closures, wage cuts, disguised layoffs, and many others.”
They demand the ten% enhance to all salaries to compensate for the inflation being skilled in lots of nations, France included. They’re additionally demanding “transparency on the evolution of the workforce”, and “a powerful dedication towards disguised dismissals and a condemnation of abusive managerial practices that push workers to resign.”
Guillemot despatched his letter to workers final week alongside the announcement of a discount to Ubisoft’s monetary forecast, citing partly the “underperformance” of Just Dance 2023 and Mario + Rabbids: Spark Of Hope. That announcement included point out of “focused restructuring”, which possible refers to job losses. Ubisoft additionally delayed Skull & Bones once more and cancelled three unannounced initiatives.