Blizzard Employees Revolt Against Company for Unequal Wages, Share Their Salaries

Nhx T., Tech Times 04 August 2020, 02:08 am

The video game industry has been facing quite a few problems recently, from harassment and abuse allegations against execs and popular streamers to the long-overdue problem with wage disparity in the industry.

Blizzard Wage Revolt

Now, Blizzard Entertainment, a division of Activision Blizzard Inc., has started a revolt against the company by anonymously sharing their salaries in a spreadsheet, which began circulating on Friday, July 31.

The anonymous document has been reviewed by Bloomberg, saying the spreadsheet contained dozens of alleged Blizzard employee's salaries and pay bumps and a recent increase of less than 10%, much less than what the staff expected.

According to the news outlet, a survey from 2019 showed that more than half of the company employees are not satisfied and happy with their compensation.

To answer their staff and to ensure fair pay, the company promised its staff that they would be making a study, according to people familiar with the situation, and the results were published last month.

"Our goal has always been to ensure we compensate our employees fairly and competitively," said Activision Blizzard spokesperson Jessica Taylor. "We are constantly reviewing compensation philosophies to better recognize the talent of our highest performers and keep us competitive in the industry, all with the aim of rewarding and investing more in top employees."

Significantly Less Than Expected

However, with the recent pay increase that was significantly less than what should be given to them, several company employees started an outcry on Blizzard's Slack messaging boards.

Many of Blizzard's employees were candid about what they were making, and according to a report by Bleeding Cool, many of their past employees said that they have never received any raise from the company until they had left to go work for another.

There was also one long-time employee who claimed to have received less than $0.50 raise an hour and that they were unable to earn more given that there are fewer overtime hours.

When comparing the wage of the majority of the workers at Blizzard to the higher-ups, there is definitely a massive difference between them.

The Stark Difference With Compensations

According to the news outlet, a few employees, mostly producers and engineers, make $100,000 each year--and what's more, CEO Bobby Kotick apparently earns $40 million each year for his base salary, which means additional benefits are not yet included.

By now, the anonymous spreadsheet has made its way throughout every department in the Irvine-based company.

Moreover, some people who were familiar with the situation but wanted to remain anonymous disclosed that after the company eliminated hundreds of jobs last year, those who were left behind had to take on the responsibility of those who were gone.

However, the extra work did not make them gain any increase.

With the little payment, they get each month, many of the employees would resort to extreme money-saving measures, such as using the company's free coffee to suppress their appetite and skip meals just to pay rent.

With that, it's no wonder they are willing to share their salaries if it meant they could acquire the pay they deserved.

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Written by: Nhx Tingson