author: Bart Swiatek
Blizzard - Frustrated Employees Fight for Higher Wages
Employees of Blizzard Entertainment, reached by journalist Jason Schreier from Bloomberg Technology, complain about the amount of wages in the studio. A sheet is circulating around the company, in which people write their salaries anonymously. One employedd also added the remuneration the company's CEO, Bobby Kotick.
IN A NUTSHELL:
- Blizzard Entertainment employees are not satisfied with their salaries;
- A sheet is circulating around the company, in which people anonymously write down the wages they receive;
- Some jobs - such as testers and customer service people - are paid little more than the minimum wage;
- Some people have problems with surviving "to the first";
- Employees feel frustrated, especially considering the company's great financial performance and the huge money paid to the boss.
Bloomberg Technology reports that Blizzard Entertainment employees want to fight for better financial conditions in their positions. The well-known industry journalist Jason Schreier reports that a sheet has started to circulate in the company, in which employees anonymously enter their salaries so that people can judge how they compare with their colleagues. The case originated in an internal survey in 2019, which revealed that more than half of the employees are not satisfied with their salaries.
The aforementioned pay sheet also showed that in most cases increases do not exceed 10% of the salary - much less than expected. One experienced developer told the journalist that he received a raise of less than 50 cents per working hour. As a result, he earns less today than a decade ago, because he doesn't do as much overtime now as he used to. Salaries are also said to be pale in comparison to the competition - some former Blizzard employees report that after moving to the competition (e.g. Riot Games) met with much better financial conditions.
In the conversations reached by Bloomberg, employees complain that although the company's financial results are improving year on year, this is not reflected in their salaries. Lead developors and engineers can expect a solid salary - well over $100,000 a year - but the money offered to software testers and customer support staff is generally not much higher than the minimum wage (if at all).
“Our goal has always been to ensure we compensate our employees fairly and competitively. 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. Our overall salary investment is consistent with prior years," said Blizzard Entertainment's spokeswoman Jessica Taylor.
In the 2018 conversations, there are even tips on how to survive to the proverbial "first" on the money paid by Blizzard. There is talk about skipping some meals to pay rent, or using free company coffee as a way to prevent hunger. One of the employees mentions that he decided to eat oatmeal for a whole month and avoided lunches with the rest of the team because he could not afford the food sold in the company canteen. Another person admitted that due to the poor financial situation, they had to abandon the plan to enlarge their family for the time being.
The whole matter is made all the more frustrating by the astronomically high salaries of the company's management - for example, the CEO Bobby Kotick received 40 million dollars last year (in 2020 his salary is to be even higher - one of the anonymous employees included it in the aforementioned sheet). In turn, the new Chief Financial Officer Dennis Durkin will receive a package of shares and bonuses worth 15 million "green" on invitation.