Do we need more reasons to dislike Blizzard? (Gaming)

by CruelLEGACEY , Toronto, Tuesday, August 04, 2020, 14:04 (1359 days ago) @ kidtsunami

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-08-03/blizzard-workers-share-salaries-in-revolt-over-wage-disparities

In 2018 messages on internal Blizzard communication channels reviewed by Bloomberg News, employees talked about money-saving measures they’ve taken to remain with the company. One employee wrote that they had to skip meals to pay rent and that they used the company’s free coffee as an appetite suppressant. Another said they would only eat oatmeal and bail on team lunches because they couldn’t afford to buy food at the company cafeteria. A third said they and their partner stopped talking about having kids because they knew they wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Blizzard doesn't pay a living wage.

Disparage between higher ups and others? I can see that. Problems? Sure. But that mostly feels like a slam piece. I have no doubt it's not the best studio to work for. However the quote is just stupid.

1. One employee wrote that they had to skip meals to pay rent and that they used the company’s free coffee as an appetite suppressant.

Why the heck did you take a job where you can't pay rent and afford food? Because nothing in that article says that they decreased anyones wages. So the only other case is that their rent went up. Blame your landlord and where you live, not your job that you chose.

I'm a little flummoxed at what blaming the landlord would accomplish in this case.

2. Another said they would only eat oatmeal and bail on team lunches because they couldn’t afford to buy food at the company cafeteria.

Hey I know, make a sandwich and not oatmeal. Can't afford a home made sandwich? Them maybe you really need to think about your priorities in life. A company cafeteria to me is a luxury.

Maybe expectations at the job don't give them an opportunity to bring in a home-made sandwich every day.

3. A third said they and their partner stopped talking about having kids because they knew they wouldn’t be able to afford it.

Yeah, cause kids are #$%@ing expensive. They also happen to be pretty cheap depending on how you do it. People have really high standards these days.

I'm all for equal wages, but I hate pieces that make it sound like these employees are 1800s orphans on a street corner. They made choices when they took the job, and yes they should be paid more, I think? But this article makes it sound like their hand was forced by some evil corporation.

1800s orphans on street corners weren't debating with their partners about whether or not they could have kids... I think the article is a bit sensationalist, especially considering Activision, a company that allegedly wanted to get Foie Gras out of Bungie, is an easy target as an evil corporation, but I don't think the responses here should respond in kind.

At the end of the day, it DOES sound like they have a massive pay disparity and that it's affecting morale. This is not some random indie dev scraping by on savings, this is Activision Blizzard we're talking about, and I think if they have employees are avoiding having kids because they don't feel financial stable enough, that it's fair to say maybe they aren't getting paid enough at the multi-billion dollar a year business.

Not making enough money to raise kids is a serious problem, and increasingly more so over time. But on the flip side, the majority of people throughout human history lived on so little money that we today can’t even comprehend it, yet they managed to raise families and survive through hardships far worse than we typically encounter in modern times. I’m not defending companies for under-paying their employees, just pointing out that a lot of people these days love to say they “can’t afford” things that people have done with far less for hundreds of thousands of years. Growing up with the expectation that our lives should be at least as comfortable as our parents’ is a thoroughly modern luxury.

Back to the point though, I think the sticking point here for some of us is that this piece and Cody are steamrolling over questions like “are these people’s wages comparable to similar positions at other companies across the industry?”. Because if their wages are roughly on par with industry standards, that means they’re predictable. Which means people can and should know what they’re getting into before taking these jobs.

Obviously, that doesn’t directly address the question of whether or not these people should be paid more for the work they’re doing, but I hesitate to even go there because it’s impossible to answer. We don’t have enough info. Maybe blizzard can and should pay them more. Or maybe if they increased wages, they’d have to cut their work force by 5-10%. Would that be better, or worse?

Personally, I just find it useless to get all outraged by the idea that a mega corporation is acting greedy. Like, OF COURSE THEY ARE. That doesn’t mean it’s ok, but what do people think they’re going to do, rid the world of every vice that exists? These employees are adults who willingly took jobs. They got themselves into it. If they’re being unfairly treated, they can leave. Of course, that means they’d have to go fund new jobs, and that’s freaking tough these days, but that’s the world we’re living in right now and it’s the challenge we’re all facing. I sympathize with anyone and everyone facing these challenges (this lockdown cost me my job and home, so I know well enough that times can be tough) but there’s a whiny and entitled undertone to arguments like the one Cody is trying to make that I find simply unhelpful. Every time my financial situation has improved, it’s because I stood in front of my boss and argued that I was worth more money, and my work performance compelled them to agree. There are times where I tried to make that argument, and my boss didn’t agree. So I left those jobs and went elsewhere. We’re all ultimately responsible for our own career choices. And when we end up in unfair situations, some of us complain, and others actually DO something about it.