Dan JohnsonApr 19, 2023

The more I think about it, I have to conclude that #Activision #Blizzard's mandatory #RTO is their attempt at a soft #layoff. It's a comical combo of unfair, stupid, and cruel.

https://twitter.com/Glaxigrav/status/1648116634463404032

"Being loud about it because I've lost yet *another* person this week.

Blizzard is losing amazing talent because someone in power doesn't listen to the game directors who make his products. DE&I also means diversity of thought, especially when it's backed by data and financials."

Adam 💙 #ABetterABK on Twitter

“Being loud about it because I've lost yet *another* person this week. Blizzard is losing amazing talent because someone in power doesn't listen to the game directors who make his products. DE&I also means diversity of thought, especially when it's backed by data and financials.”

Twitter
Show threadDan JohnsonApr 19, 2023

Unfair because some people absolutely do and will get to continue to work remotely.

- the C-suite, of course. Fran used to work from her beach house in the Hamptons.

- the irreplaceable. Principals and Senior 2s, engineers, and other hard-to-hire roles, if they want it, will get it.

- the lucky. Team leadership willing to pull for you, a capable and empathetic manager, or just asking quickly enough (I have heard people say the teams are capped at 20% wfh).

#Activision #Blizzard

Show threadDan JohnsonApr 19, 2023

Stupid because they won't offer it to everyone they should, and people will leave. Talented, not-irreplaceable-but-damn-hard-to-replace people who legitimately love working at #Activision #Blizzard and are worth their weight in gold will look at Bungie or the FLEET of new remote startups and decide it's time to move on.

Even some portion of those who get WFH will end up leaving, because "grudging allowance" means remote workers will be disadvantaged in career advancement vs in-office folks.

Show threadDan Johnson

And cruel to the people who #Activision #Blizzard has already long mistreated, like QA and CS employees across the country.

During covid, many new hires with disabilities & other complications were, maybe for the first time, able to live the dream of making video games because they could do it from home.

Now ABK, who had three profitable years, is forcing them out via the bare legal minimum of ADA compliance, short deadlines, poor communication, and open hostility.

It's offensive & shameful.

Apr 19, 2023 at 6:58amWeb
Show threadDan JohnsonApr 19, 2023

The result is already a steady stream of departures (and that's just the small slice I see) at every level of the company - and while AB's RTO was this week, Blizzard's isn't till July.

Teams with dozens of openings are being stretched thinner every day. Scope will be cut. Bugs will get missed. Releases will be delayed.

But hey, maybe profits will go up, and Bobby can socket a few more gems onto his golden parachute as he hands Microsoft what's left of the biggest publisher in the industry.

Show threadDan JohnsonApr 19, 2023

PS - if you can stomach Twitter, click through to Adam's full thread.

If you've never heard of "crisis mapping", it's the process of identifying resources, vulnerabilities, and critical infrastructure in the event of a catastrophe. For instance: hospitals, first responders, traffic arteries, etc during a hurricane.

In video games it's the members of a team who know how to execute a patch, the new features that have to ship (and those that can be cut...), QA test velocity, etc.

Show threadVictorApr 19, 2023
@djdesign Thank you for sharing this. Also, I'm not on Twitter, but publicly criticizing your employer is really jarring to me. Do people commonly post stuff like Adam's post? Are they fired?
Show threadDan JohnsonApr 19, 2023

@ElysianThus I think you see this kind of post from people who have exhausted their options for internal feedback, & gotten nowhere. Companies love ignoring their workers, but sometimes public opinion - or nervous investors - can move the needle.

Blizzard could perhaps claim NDA violation, but firing a talented employee for having a reasonable opinion is a bad look. Adam likely feels safe enough re his job performance to avoid or quickly recover from a retaliatory firing.

Show threadSean MiddleditchApr 19, 2023

@djdesign @ElysianThus This.

We've been feeding this upward through "proper channels" at ABK since the beginning. They haven't listened.

Some of us are privileged and have a responsibility. Even if they did fire me, I could have a great job lined up by the end of the week; ABK management has no real power over me.

But they have a lot of power over many of my colleagues.

We speak up for those who cannot safely speak for themselves.

Show threadDan JohnsonApr 19, 2023
@seanmiddleditch @ElysianThus
Show threadVictorApr 19, 2023
@seanmiddleditch @djdesign Thank you both for the explanations. Sean, I think it's awesome that you're looking out for your colleagues. With this context, Adam's post makes more sense to me.