Exodus of talent from Blizzard

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  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
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    Yesterday bad news for fans of World of Warcraft was revealed. Due to some business decisions made by upper management, employees have been leaving Blizzard in droves.

    Here's the short tweet thread that's the source.

    Seems like part of the reason is the privilege to work from home being taken away. Blizzard headquarters are located in Irvine, which has incredibly high living costs and the wages at Blizzard, compared to similar jobs, are not great. It is common for employees to have 2+ hours of commute and who wants to put up with that when there are better options out there?

    The times of pandemic sure changed sometimes. Many companies found out that letting people work from home can actually bring savings and increase efficiency. However, some companies appear to hate that micromanaging is harder with people working remotely.

    It was revealed by the tweet that a lot of people who left were directly responsible for creating Dragonflight, one of the best expansions the game had. And now, due to shortage of people, plans are changed on fly and the planned content may no longer be delivered.

    Sad tidings.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate
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  • DracoTarot's Avatar
    Level 52
    @Saka It seems there are a lot of companies who don't want their employees to work from home anymore even if the employees were more productive working remotely.

    The pandemic sure changed a lot of things and people got used to the changes. Going back to the old routines is a hassle. Commuting is a headache, especially in SA. Can take more than two hours to arrive at work. So it means waking up earlier in the morning and then rushing through traffic and ending up being stressed and then your boss also makes your day even more stressful. I get why people are not keen to go back to the office and then quit.

    I also heard UBISOFT do not want to market games in SA.
  • Saka's Avatar
    Level 52
    @DracoTarot Working remotely also has a potential for a lot of flexibility, depending on your profession. If I have to twiddle thumbs while thinking of solution for the current bug in the top of the queue, I may as well just do my dishes or the laundry. Something I can't do at the office.

    A lot of programmers find menial tasks helpful for problem-solving in their heads.
    Unamused Snarktooth. Advocate for hearing loss & accessibility. Person, friend and a terrible/terrific* artist.
    *delete as appropriate