Today, on October 16, Don’t Nod presented its plan to reduce its headcount, which could go as far as eliminating 69 permanent contract jobs (29% of the Paris studio workforce). This announcement is the climax of a series of catastrophic decisions, denounced for a long time by workers’ representatives.
A layoff plan thrown at us with a sweep of the hand
On September 30, in front of the whole Paris studio, CEO Oskar Guilbert mentioned a future announcement about the company, which had to be presented to workers’ representatives before the rest of the company. Just one week after a financial communication by the company relating huge financial losses, this announcement stoked the fears about the economic situation of the studio, and therefore about jobs.
Today’s meeting, after 2 weeks of waiting in anguish, was revealed as the starting point of a layoff plan (« plan de sauvegarde de l’emploi » or jobs saving plan as it is officially called). Workers’ representatives were not told in advance about the meeting’s topic, and were not provided with any documents and information before the it, which goes against the law.
We fear the amateurism already displayed in following the process will jeopardize its implementation, and worsen the distress of our colleagues.
A concerted and organised denial
Workers’ representatives at Don’t Nod have been raising alarms for more than a year about the company’s economic situation, which is the reason cited to justify the layoffs. Last summer, the head of HR Matthieu Hoffmann was still claiming in front of representatives’ that layoffs were unimaginable. Yet 3 months later this is what we end up with. Mr Hoffmann conveniently left the company in the meantime.
Alarm bells have been ringing for months : the termination of the Jusant production line and the dispersion of its team on other projects, the « undefinite pause » imposed on unannounced projects, the increasing amount of workers, including executives, leaving the company, the commercial failure of the last games…
All of these had been questioned in workers’ representatives’ notices about the company’s situation, which had been left unanswered for many months. What’s left to say about a company living on public subsidies, yet not even complying with the most basic processes dictated by law ?
Management is hiding being « the state of the economy » and « a very competitive market » as excuses for its failures, without ever questioning its inconsistent decisions, which have been harmful to the studio and its workers.
Concerns raised in our last statement have been ignored
In our statement on February 7, we were denouncing the permanent reorganisation at the company, which left whole teams behind. Eight months later, this reorganisation has been forsakend and is revealed as useless, exactly as we predicted.
We were also denouncing the absence of social dialogue, the increasing consequences on workers’ health, the obstacles to workers’ representatives exercing their mandate, or the chaotic productions. Nothing has changed, except for the addition of planned layoffs.
The Don’t Nod union section, as well the whole of the STJV, cannot tolerate the company rejecting the responsibilities of its own failures on its workers. We warned them long ago, but they ignored us and accused us of being too agressive to speak with. With this layoffs plan, they are creating an atmosphere of extreme violece. We are calling on all workers at Don’t Nod to mobilise to save their jobs and working conditions.
Faced with executives who have decided to mock their workers, a social movement like the one currently happening at Ubisoft is necessary. It is up to us to establish the necessary balance of power to save our jobs. We will not pay for our bosses’ mistakes.