We all know that the world is in a financial crisis at this point in time, and even top video game developers such as the likes of Ubisoft Montreal have had to make cutbacks, but could Ubisoft Montreal potentially be looking at losing more of their staff? Those same staff who have helped create great titles such as Assassin’s Creed, Tom Clancy’s The Division, Prince of Persia, and many more?
Is Ubisoft Montreal Intentionally Making Their Staff Leave?
Ubisoft Montreal’s 4,000 employees have been told they must return to the offices in Montreal’s Mile End for the first time in three years. Many of those 4,000 employees are not happy, as for the last three years they have been working from home, and they had been told working from home would be permanent. There are cases where members of the staff have made life choices based on the knowledge of a future working from home, such as buying homes away from the Montreal area, which clearly isn’t conducive to the new arrangements. Below is a statement from Ubisoft Montreal on the matter.
“Like many companies in entertainment and tech, we are asking our colleagues to come back to the office for key moments identified by each team. We are convinced that the synergy, in-person discussions, rapid iterations, and a sense of belonging that happens more in person will help us be more effective and agile together, and achieve our business goals.”
Although not proven, there has been speculation from members of the workforce who believe that the managers are making returning to the office mandatory to edge the people who have made the choice to move further afield or are not happy with returning to the offices for reasons such as taking calls in a noisy open office, transit costs, and a lack of certain required equipment, so that they can push people to leave instead of firing them to help curb budgets and not have to pay severance.
What is Ubisoft Montreal Doing About This?
According to staff, they are required to work two days a week within the offices, but the employer has said “The requirement is mandatory for all employees, with exemptions only made for employees with explicit needs once all other solutions have been explored.” This has sparked outrage as the employees claim you have to jump through hoops for it to be an explicit need. Numerous employees are claiming they have asked for items such as standing desks and other office equipment that they have been using in their home offices, with no success.
Related: Xbox and PlayStation Reject Ubisoft’s Game Forcing Its Team to Go Back to Drawing Board
Furthermore, this leads to staff members claiming the higher-up members of management have been delegating responsibilities to middle management, which is unable to deal with the large number of problems along with the anger from staff.
What do you think? Should the employees be angry? Do you think Ubisoft Montreal should be doing more for its employees? Please let us know in the comments.
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