Employees of the French company, facing economic difficulties, are being called upon this Thursday, September 26, to strike for three days to protest against a “forced” return to face-to-face work.
Ubisoft is once again in turmoil. Several unions called on employees of the French video game publisher to strike on October 15 for three days on Thursday, September 26. They want to protest against a return to face-to-face work.strength“, according to the term used by the video game workers’ union (STJV), Solidaires Informatique and the CFE-CGC.
They denounce the decision taken in mid-September by the group to impose at least three days of presence per week in the office. The latter had explained this choice in an email sent to its employees, emphasizing that “Creativity is stimulated by interpersonal interactions, informal conversations and collaboration around the same table».
With the widespread adoption of teleworking during the lockdown, “Many of our colleagues have built or rebuilt their lives (family life, housing, parenthood, etc.) and simply cannot return to the previous conditions” retorted the STJV in a press release.
«The consequence of his decision will be the loss of jobs for our colleagues, the disorganization of production and the drastic increase in psychosocial risks for those who remain.” he warned. For Marc Rutschlé, union delegate for Solidaires Informatique at Ubisoft Paris, this decision “comes out of nowhere and employees are very worried” When contacted, Ubisoft did not wish to respond.
Economic difficulties
The call for a strike comes a day after Ubisoft announced it was lowering its financial targets for the year as the French video game publisher faces a crisis. Reflecting a launch of “weaker than expected” of his game “Star Wars Outlaws” as well as the three-month postponement of “Assassin’s Creed Shadows”, the new event of Ubisoft’s star video game.
The company is also going through a difficult period on the stock market, where its shares have lost more than half of their value (around 60%) since the beginning of the year.
In this context, the unions are calling for the opening of “of a real negotiation” on teleworking, as well as a salary increase, a subject that had caused a large-scale movement in February within Ubisoft. According to them, nearly 700 employees had stopped working on February 14 to demand salary increases, leading to one of the largest mobilizations in the sector.
