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700+ Ubisoft France staff walk out on a three-day strike in dispute over home working and pay

Draugoth

Draugoth

Gold Member
Ubisoft_Multi-Prod_.jpg


Source
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Over 700 Ubisoft France staff have walked out on a three-day strike in a dispute over home working and pay. Ubisoft's France-based workers were called to participate in a three-day strike over a dispute around the company's return to office policy last month.


French game workers union STJV (Syndicat des Travailleurs et Travailleuses du Jeu Vidéo) said the diktat to be in the office at least three days per week going forward was "the straw that broke the camel's back." According to Le Monde, STJV called the strike when Ubisoft management did not respond to its complaints. STJV's Clement Montigny told Agence France-Presse (AFP) the company had reneged on promises about home working and "calls into question the way they organise their lives."


At the time, The Assassin's Creed developer told staff it believed the three-day requirement would boost creativity and teamwork, but still "respect individual circumstances." Ubisoft's stocks tumbled following the release of Star Wars Outlaws, falling by more than 10% in two days. In September, the value of Ubisoft shares was 40% lower than at the beginning of the year, their lowest value in a decade.
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Kataploom

Kataploom

Gold Member
I'm feeling sorry for them, they deserve it tho, but damn... My hypothesis that this woke shit show might be a China thing to lower companies values and take over them might not be too out of touch, at least in part, this feels way too convenient, just when Tencent is about to make a buyout
 
Calico345

Calico345

Gold Member
I wish I could work from home. It’s 2024 and three days a week in the office is too much? Get fucking wrecked. Spoiled brats making video games need to shut the fuck up and do some real work instead of this entitled soft nonsense. Go back to work on your shitty, monetized, disrespectful, clueless, tone deaf software or get the fuck out. /spice
 
Calico345

Calico345

Gold Member
tusharngf said:
I thought gaf loves wfh policy but there are so many corporate slaves here lol. I have been doing wfh since 2016 and i wont be going to office ever. I do all my tasks within time frame. Its is the best way to reduce expenses.
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Nothing wrong with WFH in and of itself. Bless anyone that can do that. Some of us don’t have that luxury though, and to hear people say having to go to an office to make video games three days a week is the “straw that broke the camel’s back” is disgusting. Shame on people for being so entitled.
 
Topher

Topher

Identifies as young
Calico345 said:
Nothing wrong with WFH in and of itself. Bless anyone that can do that. Some of us don’t have that luxury though, and to hear people say having to go to an office to make video games three days a week is the “straw that broke the camel’s back” is disgusting. Shame on people for being so entitled.
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I work from home 100%, but I know full well that if I don't get my job done then that privilege will be yanked in a heartbeat. That's the way it should be. If Ubisoft WFH employees are not getting the job done then they have only themselves to blame for this.
 
StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Workers make shit games, stock down the tubes, possible layoffs coming soon. And they strike.

At least game making seems pretty isolated within the company. If any of you read about Boeing striking, some downstream parts makers (Spirit AeroSystems) had to furlough employees because Boeing now messes up their production/inventory issues.

That's union workers for ya. Never give a shit about customers, or even business partner suppliers. Me, me, me.
 
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Shifty1897

Shifty1897

Member
Bros you strike when business is good and they need you, not when business is trending down and they need to lay off a couple thousand employees. RIP.

Also I WFH 100% and was hired in that way, I live 800 miles from my company's nearest office so commuting is impossible.
 
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StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Calico345 said:
Nothing wrong with WFH in and of itself. Bless anyone that can do that. Some of us don’t have that luxury though, and to hear people say having to go to an office to make video games three days a week is the “straw that broke the camel’s back” is disgusting. Shame on people for being so entitled.
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People are lazy.

Before covid made many desk jobbers go remote, everyone seemed to have no problem commuting to work or taking care of kids. Covid passes and companies want people back and it's a tough grind because it's now expected entitlement. Even though probably 99% of companies said it's temporary, you got people adjusting their work schedules to be personal/family based, gave up daycare and take care of kids while working, and you never know (unless IT tracks it), when people are working or not because I know when we are all at the office a couple days a week I can get hold of anyone because they right there in their seat. Try doing that on remote days and it's hit and miss because half the time their Outlook/Teams icon is yellow and says "Away for two hours" during work hours. They could be grocery shopping at 2 pm in the afternoon. So you got to play cat and mouse and wait for them to respond, which could be at odd hours like after dinner which doesnt help.

Then you got the people who took advantage of real estate prices moving in 2000 or 2001 (peak covid time) to be two hours away. So when the bosses said it's time to come back, their answer is "I cant. I moved two hours away".
 
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StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Topher said:
I work from home 100%, but I know full well that if I don't get my job done then that privilege will be yanked in a heartbeat. That's the way it should be. If Ubisoft WFH employees are not getting the job done then they have only themselves to blame for this.
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Yup.

And thats the way business works. when things are going well, bosses are always more lenient. When shit hits the fan, bosses clamp down. No different than paying bonuses. When the company has a great year blowing past targets, bonuses are awesome. Next year, the company tanks and the bonus is 0% or dogshit like 2%. Why should any company boost pay and job protection if everyone is sucking bags?

It doesn't make sense, but union job protection is a priority. Even when the company stinks. Gaming is different than other industries though since it all comes down to sales and profits. But something like teachers striking is different. They always strike right before a school year starts pissing off parents, students and pressuring government to give in so the school year starts as normal.

No shame. Anything for a buck.
 
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S

SHA

Member
WoJ said:
You're company is literally imploding and may go bankrupt and you strike. Good luck with that.
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That's a lot harder than what people make it seem, when talking real numbers, what they're doing is just affecting the crust of what they have.
 
StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
WoJ said:
You're company is literally imploding and may go bankrupt and you strike. Good luck with that.
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Angry_Megalodon said:
They should be fired on the spot. It's outrageous that with their company on freefall and games plagued by bugs, they behave as if nothing of this were their fault.
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When things are dire, sometimes it's best to let the company sink, so it can start over again fresh and succeed than be tied down with a ball and chain. It's like a sports team. Sometimes you got to rebuild with new coaches and players.

Hostess imploded 10 years ago and tons of people lost their jobs and the company sold off assets. Company was sinking and management asked for cost concessions. They said no thinking management was faking it. They went bankrupt.

But lucky for the company and whomever was still employed, it got bought out by investors later and they turned it around. Then the company got bought out by jam company JM Smucker for over $5 billion last year. Nice big turnaround. It took 10 years, but they got back on track. But in order to do that, a company needs to get rid of dead weight. white knights will come by if sellers can prove they'll get lean. No buyer wants bloat, or have to do the fat cutting themselves. That's extra hassles.

If nobody came by to pick up the scraps, Twinkies would be gone for good.
 
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Pejo

Pejo

Gold Member
Damn, I'm not versed enough in what's going on at Ubi currently to really say much, but it's been a non-stop shit sandwich for Yves lately. Years of being the kind of shitty company that Ubi currently is, and encouraging a certain type of employee sentiment sure has come full circle on them.

Tencent probably sees this and is second guessing their buyout plans lol.
 
MayauMiao

MayauMiao

Member
What a great time for a strike when the very product they are selling fails to make money.

Ubisoft will have great reason to get rid of the fat.
 
Cyberpunkd

Cyberpunkd

Member
GHG said:
If they don't want to come back to the office, fire them.
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France doesntnhave at-will employment, worker protections are much higher here. However something here is missing - two days per week wfh is pretty generous, many places still do one or not at all. In general France has a pretty strong office culture. This could be related to the company making a „promise” that theybwoildnt keep and workers for example moving far away for lower real estate prices and not being screwed.
 
Jinxed

Jinxed

Member
I dont know about france's employees but if it's anything like here in Montreal then I can understand. After being assured they would be working 100% from home from now on, some left the island of montreal and relocated pretty far for a cheaper cost of living but then Ubi went back on their decision. That was pretty shitty
 
Cyberpunkd

Cyberpunkd

Member
Jinxed said:
I dont know about france's employees but if it's anything like here in Montreal then I can understand. After being assured they would be working 100% from home from now on, some left the island of montreal and relocated pretty far for a cheaper cost of living but then Ubi went back on their decision. That was pretty shitty
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This. Although I would question a company is obligated to keep these promises, it’s kinda like a promise of being promoted - don’t count on it before it happens.
 
StreetsofBeige

StreetsofBeige

Gold Member
Cyberpunkd said:
This. Although I would question a company is obligated to keep these promises, it’s kinda like a promise of being promoted - don’t count on it before it happens.
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Unless it's written in a formal signed contract I dont see how it can be enforced.

It's like a company saying everyone gets half day Fridays in a memo. If the company decides to cancel some or all of the Friday half days, what's someone going to do? Sue the company?
 
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