Following yesterday’s announcement of the Activision Blizzard Walkout today (and a noticeable dip in the company’s share price), CEO Bobby Kotick sent an email to the staff with a rather different tone than previous corporate communications regarding the California DFEH lawsuit that alleges a discriminatory “frat boy” culture at the publisher. However, many employees still aren’t satisfied that the actions reportedly being taken aren’t addressing the demands that they feel would create true change towards a more fair, safe, and equitable working environment.
While Kotick acknowledged that other comments from executives and the company were “tone deaf,” he failed to address any of the core four demands that employees issued as part of today’s walkout; Namely ending forced arbitration, allowing employees to be a part of hiring and promotion policies, pay transparency across the company, and allowing employees the ability to select a third party to audit Activision Blizzard’s HR.
Activision Blizzard walkout organizers just released a statement in response to CEO Bobby Kotick’s email to staff in which he described the company’s response as “tone deaf” pic.twitter.com/64D7w8PhOL
— Megan Farokhmanesh (@Megan_Nicolett) July 28, 2021
You can read the full employee statement in response to Kotick’s message below:
On the evening before our employee walkout, Activision Blizzard leadership released a statement apologizing for their harmful responses to last week’s DFEH lawsuit. While we are pleased to see that our collective voices—including an open letter with thousands of signatures from current employees—have convinced leadership to change the tone of their communications, this response fails to address critical elements at the heart of employee concerns.
Activision Blizzard’s response did not address the following:
- The end of forced arbitration for all employees.
- Worker participation in oversight of hiring and promotion policies.
- The need for greater pay transparency to ensure equality.
- Employee selection of a third party to audit HR and other company processes.
Today’s walkout will demonstrate that this is not a one-time event that our leaders can ignore. We will not return to silence; we will not be placated by the same processes that led us to this point.
This is the beginning of an enduring movement in favor of better labor conditions for all employees, especially women, in particular women of color and transgender women, nonbinary people, and other marginalized groups.
We expect a prompt response and a commitment to action from leadership on the points enumerated above, and look forward to maintaining a constructive dialogue on how to build a better Activision Blizzard for all employees.
Today, we stand up for change. Tomorrow and beyond, we will be the change.
While Kotick’s statement promised that the company would “continue to investigate each and every claim and will not hesitate to take decisive action,” many employees clearly feel that the company has already failed them and others in this regard. Similarly, promises of “listening sessions” as “safe spaces” don’t empower employees or instill a sense of confidence in a corporate structure where management and HR has proven to many to be the roots of the problem. There is an external law firm coming in to analyze policies and process, but the law firm and individual leading the charge appear to have been selected by Kotick himself. And though Kotick promised “personnel changes,” we haven’t yet seen anything actionable.
Many see Kotick’s message as a necessary communique from the executive team at Activision Blizzard after nearly a week of silence from its various brands (and the stock price beginning to dip), but the employees most affected don’t feel that it promises enough or empowers the workforce to change what is a deeply-rooted cultural issue at the company. Executives would like to move past the lawsuit allegations and get back to the business of making games (and subsequently, money), but the statement from the employees makes clear that today’s walkout is “the beginning of an enduring movement,” and they aren’t willing to accept compromises that continue to sweep major problems under the rug.
“We will not return to silence; we will not be placated by the same processes that led us to this point.”
