Unionized Bethesda employees have walked out of their jobs in multiple locations across the United States. The employees reported to be in their hundreds left their jobs because of grievance related to the company’s remote job policy and the outsourcing of Quality Assurance roles.
Bethesda employees in Texas and Maryland held a one-day strike after filing an unfair labor complaint against parent company ZeniMax in October, according to an Inverse report. Formed in January 2023, Bethesda union is the second largest games union in the United States with over 200 QA workers.
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The union claimed ZeniMax workers are currently mandated to be in the office twice a week but many have been denied remote work requests. The union also expressed concern about the company’s outsourcing of QA jobs.
According to the report, the union is “looking to limit the percentage of quality assurance testers the company outsources in comparison to the number of full-time workers present in its bargaining unit”.
The Bethesda employee’s union is seeking a more flexible remote work policy. Some of the union members claimed Bethesda is unwilling to shift grounds and has continued to present the same proposal to the union.
“They have continually given us their first proposal again and again, and it’s become obvious that our different mobilization tactics have not worked,” said Rhyanna Eichner, Bethesda Quality Assurance Test Lead.
Senior Quality Assurance Tester Juniper Dowell added, “Striking isn’t fun or ideal, but there’s a satisfaction in having a concrete physical action we can do to fight for better work conditions. Hopefully, we can convince them to stop dragging their feet and meet us at the table.”
Since the $70 billion acquisition of Activision Blizzard in 2023, Microsoft gaming division has shed over 2,500 jobs and axed four Bethesda game development studios. Nevertheless, the Xbox boss Phil Spencer claimed in a recent Bloomberg interview that “The Xbox business has never been more healthy”.
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