Category: Ubisoft

As tensions are rising around the negotiations on the teleworking at Ubisoft, our three unions are warning of a particularly worrying situation.

Negotiations are being rushed to conclude before the end of January; union representatives are facing an interim direction, as the main decision-makers are absent; the direction hasn’t even discussed the proposal from the unions. This situation questions the legitimacy and effectiveness of the negotiation process.

A survey conducted by the union representatives, to which more than half of the workforce responded, reveals some alarming figures: nearly 200 colleagues (~25% of the company’s workforce) are considering leaving the company as a result of the implementation of a return to working in the office.

Some people are already leaving the company for these reasons. The testimonies we are gathering point to growing psychological distress among employees: stress, sleep disorders and anxiety about their professional future. This situation could be considered as a layoffs plan in disguise.

The union representatives deplore the total lack of co-construction in this process. The plan presented appears as a unilateral decision coming from the Ubisoft headquarters, with no real room for negotiations for local representatives.

The next meeting, scheduled for shortly before the festive season leaves little hope that the situation will improve, raising serious concerns about the well-being of employees and the future of the studio.

Press release from the STJV union section at Ubisoft Montpellier, with the support of the STJV union sections at Ubisoft Paris, Ubisoft Bordeaux, Ubisoft Annecy and Ubisoft Ivory Tower

Information has leaked externally about a former employee of Ubisoft, who left the company as the existence of an internal investigation about him was revealed in the press. He is currently involved in a project in an « exploratory phase », as an external consultant. This situation raises serious questions about the safety of workers, especially in terms of psycho-social risks. These concerns have been regularly raised internally for several months without any satisfactory response, in our opinion, from management.

We, members of the STJV union section at Ubisoft, offer our full support to all employees facing a situation that could expose them to psychosocial risks and invite them to contact us at the following addresses if they so wish:

Please note that we will guarantee anonymity to any employee who requests it.

Your involvement is essential if we are to put in place the necessary measures to protect your health and safety.

However, the main issue here is not the return of any one person, but the trust that we can all place in Ubisoft’s internal reporting procedures, particularly in the cases where these do not involve any employee representatives. What guarantees do we have that, in the future, other people who have been denounced as dangerous in the past will not work with Ubisoft again, using similar methods?

We find it very urgent to revise these procedures, and have Ubisoft take firm commitments to prevent cases of harassment, and stand by those.

It’s vital to get away from the belief that single individuals are indispensable to a project’s success.

More than ever: games are made through the collaborative efforts of workers, they are not the product of one or two « talents ».