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Activision Blizzard ending hybrid work for QA staff

Activision Blizzard ending hybrid work for QA staff

US publishing giant Activision Blizzard is requiring quality assurance staff to come into the office for work.

According to the employee group A Better ABK, the publisher said it was ending remote and hybrid work in November. Staff in Minneapolis, Austin and El Segundo are impacted by this.

In a post on Twitter, the organisation said that workers are facing job insecurity as a result, though notes that Activision Blizzard is offering severance to staff who choose to no longer work at the company as a result of these changes.

"The job security of many QA employees was already on shaky ground due to the announcement of hybrid work earlier this year," A Better ABK wrote.

"Since then, hundreds of employees have been in correspondence with the accommodations team to try to receive permanent work-from-home arrangements due to disability, financial issues, or other factors.

"Many of these requests have been outright denied, and many more have been offered in-office accommodations that do not adequately meet the needs of employees."

In a statement, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson confirmed these changes.

"We've made the decision to move from a hybrid work schedule to a full-time, in-office working model for Activision QA in Minneapolis, Austin, and El Segundo to foster a best-in-class QA function and best deliver for our players," they said.

"We take our support for employees with disabilities, differing abilities, mental health requirements, and changing medical needs seriously."


PCGamesInsider Contributing Editor

Alex Calvin is a freelance journalist who writes about the business of games. He started out at UK trade paper MCV in 2013 and left as deputy editor over three years later. In June 2017, he joined Steel Media as the editor for new site PCGamesInsider.biz. In October 2019 he left this full-time position at the company but still contributes to the site on a daily basis. He has also written for GamesIndustry.biz, VGC, Games London, The Observer/Guardian and Esquire UK.