Ubisoft propose cutting up to 200 jobs at Paris headquarters, as unions reportedly agree three day strike

Ubisoft have proposed a round of voluntary redundancies at their Paris headquarters, which could see as many as 200 jobs cut. These plans follow a major bloodbath of game cancellations and restructuring by the publishers last week, which came with a mandate demanding staff return to working in-office five days a week (an annual allowance of work-from-home days was part of that proposal). All of that understandably drew the ire of unions representing Ubisoft workers, with a number now having reportedly agreed to a three day-long strike next month.

“In line with last week’s announcements on its new operating model and the acceleration of cost-reduction initiatives, Ubisoft International has initiated discussions regarding a potential Rupture Conventionnelle Collective, a collective, voluntary mutual termination agreement that could involve up to 200 positions at its headquarters in France,” a Ubisoft spokesperson told IGN of the proposed Paris layoffs. If those cuts do see 200 jobs eliminated, that would affect around 18% of workers at Ubisoft HQ, whom IGN cite as currently numbering approximately 1100 in total.

“At this stage, this remains a proposal, and no decision will be final until a collective agreement is reached with employee representatives and validated by French authorities,” the Ubisoft spokesperson continued. “The proposal applies exclusively to Ubisoft International employees under French contracts and has no impact on other French entities or Ubisoft teams worldwide.”

The union response to these layoff plans appears to have been swift, with French financial paper Les Echos reporting this morning that all of the French unions representing Ubisoft workers have agreed to a three day-long strike set to run from February 10th to 12th. The five French unions – the Video Game Workers’ Union (STJV), Solidaires Informatique, the CFE-CGC, the CGT, and Printemps écologique – are also reported to be reaching out to unions outside of France who represent Ubisoft workers in an effort to make sure the pushback isn’t limited to a single country.

The Solidaires Informatique union previously called for a half-day strike on January 22nd as “an initial response to the absurdity of management decisions”. “It is out of the question to let a boss run rampant and destroy our working conditions,” they wrote at the time, in comments addressed to Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot. “Perhaps he needs to be reminded that it is his employees who make the games.”

While the Rupture Conventionnelle Collective process requires any staff departures as part of it to be voluntary and subject to terms agreed upon by employees and unions, the question is what might happen if Ubisoft don’t end up viewing it as having seen enough workers agree to give up their jobs. The answer in that case could well be regular old layoffs, as Ubisoft recently inflicted on The Division devs Massive and Ubisoft Stockholm after a voluntary redundancy scheme at the former reportedly didn’t get rid of enough staff to satisfy Ubisoft management.