With the company's stock price approaching subterranean levels, it feels like something major is about to give over at Ubisoft. Blows have been raining down in the form of Star Wars Outlaws not meeting expectations, Assassin's Creed Shadows being hit with a hefty delay, calls for CEO Yves Guillemot’s resignation, and the Board of Directors-ordered internal company review; just about the last thing the brothers Guillemot need now is a labour strike, and there is a revolutionary feeling in the air. Try to guess what's just been called for by France's biggest video game union.
As reported by IGN, Le Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo (STJV) has called for all staff at Ubisoft's French holdings to down tools and strike. This move follows a breakdown in negotiations regarding a return to work order and ongoing pay disputes. Ubisoft management has mandated all staff return to the office for three days a week, which STJV says is ridiculous after the pivot workers just did:
"After more than five years of working efficiently in the current remote-work context, many of our colleagues have built or rebuilt their lives (family life, housing, parenthood, etc.) and simply cannot return to the previous working conditions. Our employer knows this perfectly well. The consequence of its decision will be the loss of our colleagues' jobs, the disorganization of many game projects, and the drastic increase in psychosocial risks for those who remain."
The STJV said the return to work order is a reprisal following the collapse of profit-sharing negotiations between Ubisoft France management and staff. The first strike is set for 15-17th October, and Ubisoft declined to comment on the brewing situation when IGN asked. The STJV wants a formal agreement on remote work, for profit sharing at 60% to be restored, and an increase in salaries. Global Ubisoft staff have been encouraged to "mobilize" as well, so we'll keep an eye on the action.
Are there simply too many fires over at Ubisoft for the Guillemot family to contend with? Remember when the worst thing it had to worry about was a hostile Vivendi buyout? Relive the glory days in the comments section below.
[source ign.com]
Comments 58
The most French outcome possible. They do have a point though, a snap ‘everyone back to the office’ is unrealistic because a lot of them had to rejig their lives when the hybrid office work came into effect. Being that strict just creates tension and well, they’re French. Of course they’ll strike.
Ubisoft is under-siege from all sides it seems.
They've dug themselves quite the hole, that's for sure. One wonders if any of the Guillemot family own shares in a shovel company.
"Ubisoft management has mandated all staff return to the office for three days a week, which STJV says is ridiculous"
Sounds like the devs are a bunch of spoiled little brats. No wonder nothing is getting done at the company, no one is doing any actual work.
Ubisoft shares are starting to look like a very good buy. If you can wait 3-5 years could be easy profit.
The Guillemont family should be thankful they live in modern times.
In darker, more unforgiving historical times, the STJV would have called for the guillotine instead of a strike.
There is a second video game crash coming. I firmly believe this. It won't look like the first, but the evidence is everywhere. Studios closing, the lay-offs, the multi-million dollar failures, strike threats, AI.
This industry will look very different soon.
@Savage_Joe well the old saying is true then. You learn something new everyday, for I did not know that!
Oh the French and their strikes...
@LastSaneManOnEarth Yeah 3 days a week doesn't sound that bad tbh
I can't decide which is funnier, the Ubi crash, or the fact the author managed to write Guillemot different 3 times in the span of this article
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@LastSaneManOnEarth Spot the American. Come on now, Stanford’s study into hybrid work found that there was zero impact on productivity and it both staves off burnout and increases retention. You’re talking out your arse.
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It's only a matter of time before they are acquired, Microsoft won't be allowed and Sony won't have the funds. Which means it's likely going to be Amazon or Tencent, but I think it needs to happen for the best.
@PSme But this situation calls for the Guillemotine......
.... I'll get my coat...
Change hurts, but it’s not a crazy ask.
When my boss mandated we get back in the office after lockdown. Some of us grumbled. But we did what we were told and our efficiency went up. And this is just 3 days.
Get back to work.
Sounds like the perfect situation to make a scummy company actually acquiesce to workers' demands - they need people working more than ever, zero leeway to refuse remote work.
@nessisonett the Stanford in California, USA?
Anyway, I'd say "don't lump all Americans together," but I've lived all over the world, and most of my peers in the USA have never left where they grew up. Most of them think anything left of hunting the poor for sport is socialist, so I get what you mean.
I think if someone attempted a hostile takeover now, they might win.
"Let them eat cake!"
Does that mean heads will roll?
haha
@NEStalgia I laughed harder than I should have at your comment so I will also get my coat! 😂
@Kienda some of these employees don’t even live in the same city as the company anymore. They’ve been working remotely for 5 years.
The disdain for remote work on this comment section is insane (american hours maybe?)
@Nepp67 Maybe people aren’t in the same position as you?
@Carck
Remote work is a privilige not a right. Simple as.
@LifeGirl
Oh I fkn hope so. Burn it all to the ground.
Publishers, developers and the lot of them are completely useless. It has gone way too far.
Hopefully whatever rises from the ashes has a bit more humility towards THEIR FREAKING BUYERS.
@LastSaneManOnEarth there is lots of research that points to reduced work times increasing productivity. I can only recommend reading up on Rutger Bergman and from there you can find many references to such research. Very interesting.
@Chupa_loyzer it really depends on your contract. If i fully work remote as per my contract, for example, a change to this would infringe on my rights as an employee
@Nepp67 This is not the problem here. Some people have moved since they could remote-work, asking them to come back even for a single day per week in no more possible for them.
Some people say Ubisoft make it on purpose to do "silent" layoffs like : "You cannot come back to work because now you live at a 300km distance? Sorry but then you are fired". This way, there won't be official announcement like "Ubisoft lays off 500 employees".
Can't I just play AC shadows before everything goes boom..please...
@Carck
Totally agree. Question is what kind of contracts do they have. I doubt once the pandemic hit they all received new contracts with unrestricted work from home conditions.
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@Chupa_loyzer the industry has a high turnover rate, which would mean most of the contracts are post covid, and probably include such terms. The ones that aren’t, employees may still be protected under law, as changes deemed permanent (such as working from home for over 5 years, or simpler ones such as raises) don’t require contract changes to become legally binding in many european countries (France being one of the most protective of employees rights, i assume it has some of those precautions).
I’m no law expert, and I don’t live in France. But i’ve been working from home for a long time, and i’ve seen a lot of these situations. Like another commenter said, it’s 99% sure a way of “justifying” a mass layoff without actually doing a mass layoff (which has damaging legal implications for the company, usually is much more expensive).
Baffles me that people in the comments are siding with the company trying to go over workers’ rights.
Star Wars Outlaws not meeting expectations,
Assassin's Creed Shadows delayed,
Stock price plummeting.....
Employees - "where's our salary increase?"
@Carck
You just said yourself you're not an expert on (French) labour law so how can you be sure the company tries to go over worker's rights? It's just speculation at this point yet you are eager to take a side.
@Chupa_loyzer I explained my reasoning, not my fault you’re discussing in bad faith
The last games I truly enjoyed, were New Dawn and Origins
I don't care about Ubisoft in the slightest, they can crash and burn and I wouldn't shed a tear.
But for people who actually work there to actively make a bad situation worse feels so insanely petty. If ever there were a time for unity at Ubisoft, this is it.
Boohoo, I have to actually meet up at work to get paid. You can't make this sh*t up. 😅
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Splendid work by the union, this is exactly the leverage organised workers need. No matter the industry. UNIONIZE, FOLKS!!!!
Only as a collective force are we able to overcome the feudal bosses which own our labour.
"Everyone loves democracy, except when they enter the place they work at". Period.
@Chupa_loyzer gotta love them!
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@DellMibbler
Based on what sociopolitical data do you make your assumption that majority of Americans are on the left of the spectrum?
I dislike the management of Ubisoft and wouldn't shed any tears if the Guillemots are ousted (I hope they are). I don't want to see Ubisoft itself fail though.
On the controversial subject of employee fury about having to spend 3 days per week in the office, I can see some strong minded heel dug opinions on both sides in the chat. Personally, I don't find it an unreasonable request at all - the remote working arrangements during COVID were always meant to be temporary, and only foolish people let themselves believe otherwise. I've seen poor attitudes about office working at my own place of business, and from my specific experience, those who rally the hardest against in-person attendance have tended to be quite selfish about the whole thing. They're usually people who have a great home working setup (nice house, dedicated work space, garden, etc); don't want to commute for 2-3 days per week; don't value the needs of their colleagues; don't value real interaction with their colleagues; slack off during the work day doing their own personal chores and business and/or are just generally lazy; or a combination of any of these.
Being asked to come to the office for 40-60% of your work week is what is called a 'reasonable compromise' between the way things were before and the way they were during COVID. It's a middle ground, best of both worlds situation for everyone. People also need to think about the needs of others and not just their own desires - there are colleagues who do not have a good setup at home for remote working (using kitchens and living rooms, etc); some people want and benefit from having a physical separation between work and home life; some people (whether their own fault or not) do not have enriching close family or friend circles and rely on seeing colleagues in-person to have real connections with other human beings; and last but not least, it is (shocking I know) actually healthy for people to communicate and interact with other humans in real physical proximity and not exclusively through a screen - this can do wonders for productivity, and critically, for team morale and bonding.
But long story short, in this case, they're French and will 100% throw their toys from the pram and strike!
@DellMibbler "Most of my peers" being veteran friends (mostly veteran ex friends since ohhhhhhhhhhhh Nov 2016 or so) and people from Virginia, where I grew up. The ones I referred to that had "never left home."
Absolutely schadenfreude moment that I can't stop grinning while reading this article.
Let them eat cake!!!
@Carck yeah, I get that for the individuals it can be hard.
However, the company is struggling and needs all hands on deck. These people have well paying jobs in a market that has lots of layoffs.
They have to adapt to that. Commute to the office three times a week, help the company recover, or jump into a job market that has lots of competition.
It sucks, but I’ve personally been hit in the same way and for the company it was the best choice, even if for me it was less favourable.
It’s just the way it is unfortunately. Until we become our own bosses we can’t dictate our way. And ultimately what is best for us as individuals isn’t always best for the company.
As an American reading the comments, I come away from this as very jealous of my friends in Europe. The American approach to work is very cut throat and, in this particular economy, has grown very hostile. Theres layoffs left and right, storefronts closing down everywhere, and inflation is consistent whereas raises are not. Our political system is based on the idea that there is constant scarcity and both parties play on the paranoia that there will be less opportunity while also promising more opportunity in process.
I think it’s great that Ubisoft employees have the ability to strike against unjust practices and I’m glad they are doing this. Billion dollar companies, by virtue of the money they generate, must provide good working conditions for their employees. Even though, as an American, I do think their requests are odd, given that most of us just worked through Covid in offices, but, hey, it’s where they’re at! Great they had that and great they like it better! It’s a shame employers don’t read the studies on how to make people more productive typically, and prefer their employees be paranoid of loss instead!
@somnambulance
What unjust practices do you think they strike against in this particular case?
@Orange_Juice
It's disturbing how this backstabbing behaviour during extreme bad times for the company which with all it's minuses has given people stable jobs and income during troubled times in the industry gets so much support. Truly makes you question the quality of your employees these days.
@Kienda it’s not that simple, because actually laying off people would result in better deals for the individuals. Contracts have very generous compensation clauses for the worker that companies that do this are trying to avoid paying.
For clarification, this isn’t about people being lazy. It’s about a company trying to avoid paying contractual compensation by requiring employees to do something they haven’t in half a decade (including Ubisoft’s most profitable era, mind).
The idea that people are somehow trying to scam or being ungrateful to Ubisoft is painfully capitalist in nature. I’m no socialist, but this isn’t america where big corporations own you.
@Chupa_loyzer If Ubisoft enabled a work from home ordinance and allowed their employees to move wherever they pleased and acknowledged that their employees did so, it would be unjust for them to require them to return back to the office. If they facilitated this as their business culture and revoked it, it certainly would cause the loss of many jobs through silent layoffs and would certainly impact the morale of staff remaining. While I would not feel going to my office is an unjust practice in my case (as I spend 50+ hours a week there these days), if this has been the culture and the staff at large feels it will disrupt labor significantly, it is unjust for them.
Viva la revolution. Seems reasonable, it's overdue that the artists, designers and coders (You know, people who actually do most of the work) get paid more for their labour and treated like actual humans.
@nessisonett That is complete bs. I administer over a thousand end users in my division and over 90% of the ones who work from home get locked out by our GPO due to weeks of inactivity.
As long as a new Rayman/Splintercell/Prince of Persia remake happens and do release sure. I have no hope for a Red Steel 2 VR port or anything else coming of it or Mario Rabbids 3 ever but enjoying them in the mean time.
Otherwise eh they need to get things better ironed out, it's a mess these studio staff ideas/the communication and ideas shut downs making the workplace just sad/management.
Many HR or management to staff just being really weird about things. It's just disgusting.
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