On 11 June, Carl Cavers, the CEO of games company Sumo Digital, brought his employees terrible, albeit unsurprising, news. Apparently, due to the ongoing crisis in the games industry, the company is ‘forced’ to start cutting costs.
What he really means is that in order to maintain the profits for the bosses, us workers – who produce all the value – must take the hit.
As a result, up to 15% of employees will be laid off in the coming weeks. It is likely that some studios in the Sumo Group will get shut down in the process.
The workers in Sumo Newcastle are understandably worried about not only losing their jobs, but also about finding another one after being made redundant – given the mass layoffs in the sector.
“If I get laid off, I’ll have to find a job in 60 days, or else I’ll get deported and I might have to cover my own visa costs”, one of the workers told us.
Another concern is that the criteria that will be used for deciding who will be put at risk are still unknown. And no matter how or what criteria the management chooses, they will only serve to arbitrarily divide the employees.
Them and us
But why does Sumo have to fire workers in the first place? Will any of the highly-paid bosses take any pay cuts?
The latter question was asked twice during a team meeting on the day after the announcement, and is still left unanswered.
The workers are not buying their excuses! The employees must demand that the upper management open the books and disclose where all the money goes.
This is not the first wave of layoffs in the industry, and certainly won’t be the last.
A month ago Ubisoft laid off 1,700 employees. It is estimated that in the whole games industry globally, 21,000 workers have been sacked during this crisis.
As the last few projects are getting finished in the coming months, there will be no funding for new ones. As a result, even more people will be made redundant.
Organise!
Many employees will feel helpless in this situation, as their fate feels out of their control. And rightfully so, as one person on their own does not wield much power.
Together, however, they can fight against those layoffs. To do that, they must get organised – not just the people in Sumo, but all game workers in the country.
What games workers can do:
1. Join the IWGB Game Workers union!
Spread the word that you are organising to all your colleagues, friends, and connections in the games industry. Individually they can pick you off, but together you are strong.
2. Demand that the bosses open the books!
Shows us exactly where the money is going. Let’s see the salaries of the bosses. If they claim there is a crisis, then prove it!
3. Campaign for workers’ control!
Games workers themselves should democratically decide how the budget is managed. They do all the work to make the profits, and it is they lives that will be devastated by redundancies.
Workers should demand control of their own workplaces, as the bosses have clearly failed to manage them.
They do not have to accept their fate. If they organise, they can fight back against these layoffs!
