Activision Blizzard Workers Are Forced to Return to Office

After nearly three years of remote work, Activision Blizzard has communicated to employees that it now requires them to return to the office, drawing criticism from the company's staff.

As spotted by VGC, Twitter user LeastMyHairIsOk posted a thread detailing the situation. They noted that on February 14, Activision informed employees of a plan to return to office work starting in April or June, depending on the studio. However, according to them, "the majority of employees at ABK have no interest in returning to office either full or part time."

LeastMyHairIsOk explained that people are still concerned about the ongoing threat of COVID-19 and the severe consequences that the disease can have on people and their families, particularly for those at high risk of complications if infected.

They also noted that the increase in the cost of living had led some employees to relocate to more distant areas from the office or opt to sell their vehicle in order to reduce expenses and argued that work-from-home arrangements allowed staff to have more time they could spend on work instead of losing it in commutes.

Additionally, LeastMyHairIsOk stressed that even if workers are willing to return to the office, two or four months is too short notice to require employees to do so as a number of them previously made a choice to relocate and it would take some time to move back.

Prior to LeastMyHairIsOk's thread, user DrHilarious_PHD who claims to work for QA at Activision published a similar post on Reddit. They attached an alleged internal email from Activision’s HR department which it reportedly sent to those employees who requested flexibility with regard to working from home.

"As mentioned on today’s townhall, Activision is requiring employees to return to office, beginning April 10, 2023. Our working model for Activision QA in El Segundo, Austin, and Minneapolis requires employees to be in the office three days a week and work remotely two days a week," the alleged email reads. "The expectation is for employees to be within a reasonable commute to the office they were hired for. As a result, there are no permanent remote work opportunities within QA."

DrHilarious_PHD noted that numerous employees "walked out or stopped working today after receiving the news" and voiced their frustration stating that commuting was not a viable option for some people who had taken the remote job with the expectation of working from home. They explained that it would be difficult for workers who live in distant areas to commute and that night-shift employees would be unable to find transportation late at night.

In a statement to VGC, Activision Blizzard confirmed that the company is returning to an office plan stating that the company "customized a plan based on what’s best for [its] business and [its] teams" and that it is looking forward to "the increased real-time, in-person collaboration and opportunities this change will foster."

Don't forget to join our 80 Level Talent platform, our Reddit page, and our Telegram channel, follow us on Instagram and Twitter, where we share breakdowns, the latest news, awesome artworks, and more.