Bethesda Workers Protest Microsoft Layoffs, Warn Games Will Suffer

Bethesda workers across nine cities in the United States and Canada have staged fresh protests against mass layoffs within Microsoft Gaming divisions. The demonstrations, organized under the banner “Save Our Devs,” were led by the One Bethesda Game Studio (OneBGS) union with backing from the Communications Workers of America (CWA). Rallies took place in Redmond, Rockville, Austin, Minneapolis, and Albany.

Speaking to Kotaku amid the demonstrations, unionized Bethesda staff described the internal climate following the job cuts. Technical producer Nathan Han said the union sent Microsoft a proposal in February outlining terms for handling staff reductions. According to Han, the company did not respond for four months before carrying out mass layoffs.

Lead character artist Alex Nguyen contested assumptions that the layoffs primarily targeted middle management. Nguyen stated that the cuts eliminated workers who actively built the games and helped ship them.

Han noted that job-related morale among remaining Bethesda employees is at an all-time low. However, he added that morale within the union is trending upward.

The CWA and CWA Canada filed unfair labor practice charges against Microsoft with the US National Labor Relations Board last month. The unions allege that Microsoft carried out the layoffs improperly by withholding information from the union, bargaining in bad faith, engaging in coercive behavior, and unilaterally changing terms of employment contracts.

Source: iXBT.games