Yesterday, we reported on the impending Ubisoft Paris worker strike and associated demands for better compensation and reduced work hours, provoked by CEO Yvrs Guillemot’s responsibility-shirking comments that seemed to put blame for sagging financials on the workforce and obligated them to adopt austerity measures to compensate for corporate bungling. “The ball is in your court to deliver [the company’s] line-up on time and at the expected level of quality,” Guillemot had written, to which the union replied, “The ball is in our court, but the money stays in his pockets.” Our own commenters roasted Guillemot for the insensitive remarks, and now, he’s apparently walked them back – to a degree.
Guillemot ran a staff meeting answering developer questions yesterday, beginning with an apology for those comments: “When saying ‘the ball is in your court’ to deliver our lineup on time and at the expected level of quality, I wanted to convey the idea that more than ever I need your talent and energy to make it happen,” he said. “This is a collective journey that starts of course with myself and with the leadership team to create the conditions for all of us to succeed together.”
However, Kotaku’s reporting reveals that executives at the meeting failed to meet any of the strikers’ demands (or even acknowledge the strike); the CFO reiterated that the company must reduce costs while still increasing productivity, the CPO said four-day work weeks and raises commensurate with inflation were impossible, and of course Guillemot himself would not rule out layoffs. This story is far from over, in other words.
