“Workers deserve protection, not to be treated like disposable line items” – Hundreds of union members affected by Xbox layoffs

Hundreds of union members from the Communication Workers of America were affected by the mass layoffs at Xbox this week.

3,200 positions were eliminated and five internal studios were divested as part of major organisational restructuring.

The CWA said it will take “all necessary legal and contractual action to defend our members and their rights.”

This includes immediate bargaining for fair severance, decisions on vendor contracts, internal placement in open roles, and recall rights.

In partnership with the United Videogame Workers union, the CWA also recently launched a hardship fund for laid-off developers.

“As Microsoft restructures, the workers powering its biggest franchises deserve protection, not to be treated like disposable line items,” said CWA District 6 vice president Derrick Osobase.

“It is our CWA members who make the games that make Xbox valuable. [These] layoffs decimated the teams at Id Software, Bethesda Game Studios, and ZeniMax Online Studios, legendary studios whose employees brought us games like Doom, Quake, Elder Scrolls, and Fallout.

Osobase continued: “The layoffs that occurred this week will lower the quality of these iconic games and make them less fun to play with longer delays in releases, ultimately hurting the players and driving down revenue for Microsoft.”

In response to a CWA call to action earlier this year, Xbox said it respected “the rights of our team members to make their voices heard.”

“We have a long track record of good faith partnership with labour organisations, as demonstrated by the several finalised bargaining agreements our teams have reached with the CWA and our labour principles,” a spokesperson said.

Both parties entered into a labour neutrality agreement in 2022 as Microsoft was in the process of acquiring Activision Blizzard.

“Although our union signed neutrality agreements with Microsoft, we have been extremely disappointed by a company that has slow-walked our members at the bargaining table, making CWA members wait for the protections of a union contract,” said CWA president Claude Cummings Jr.

“When Microsoft decides to treat the workers who built Xbox as expendable, it should know who they’re dealing with. This is not just a fight with the thousands of workers across Xbox; it’s a fight with each and every member at CWA.”

In response to the layoffs, Xbox CEO Asha Sharma stated the company had “spread [itself] too thin.”

“In order to grow, we made a bunch of bets,” said Sharma. “As we did that, we inherently didn’t focus on the core business.”

“The number one measure of your strategy is what you put your resources behind, and we simply spread ourselves too thin.”