What do you do when you really want to lay off the people doing all the work at your company, but you also don’t want the PR nightmare of layoffs and the financial baggage of severance checks? Why, you mandate a return-to-office policy and hope a bunch of people quit instead, i.e., a soft layoff. That’s exactly what Ubisoft appears to now be doing, though it’s still not quite as punitive as other mandates we’ve seen in the games industry. This new mandate doesn’t even have an ultimatum or a date.
While some of the company’s satellite branches across the globe, representing a third of Ubisoft workers, were already largely back in the office instead of working remotely, now it will be a mandate for the whole company, studio executives have announced. With specific exceptions, workers will be expected to work in the office three days a week; those exceptions will apparently involve regional laws and relocation hardship, though whether Ubisoft actually approves those exceptions remains to be seen. Activision-Blizzard, for example, stood accused of refusing medical exceptions for vulnerable workers who didn’t want to catch COVID. Ubisoft Montreal workers accused Ubisoft of similar intransigence last year; the workers who’d been promised permanent remote work in their contracts had a particularly strong case.
“We have adopted a hybrid work model globally over the last few years and gained valuable insights,” Ubisoft’s new statement says. “We are now looking at refining it to better balance the benefits of remote and in-office work, targeting at least three days per week at the office. This adjustment would enhance creativity and teamwork by increasing our time together in the office, ensuring it supports our values and culture while respecting individual circumstances.”
To workers, Ubisoft painted the move as a “flexible” position. “We all appreciate the flexibility hybrid work offers and want to continue enjoying its advantages, including better work-life balance,” it said. “That’s why we will not go back to a 100% office-based model.”
