Bethesda HR Orders Removal of Memorial for Laid-Off Employees
Earlier this week, Xbox initiated another significant round of layoffs across its various divisions and studios, impacting many employees at Bethesda. When the team at Bethesda Game Studios in Maryland attempted to honor their laid-off colleagues with a small memorial, HR reportedly instructed them to take it down, as shared by the official BGS Union.
On Monday, Xbox and Microsoft began cutting thousands of jobs across all subsidiaries and studios, including id Software, Obsidian, and Activision. They also spun off or sold studios like Double Fine and Ninja Theory. This corporate shakeup has become a recurring theme at Xbox, with more layoffs anticipated in the coming year. Bethesda Game Studios and its satellite teams were not exempt from these cuts, resulting in numerous staff layoffs.
On Tuesday, the Bethesda Game Studios Union reported that the BGS team in Austin set up a small “Celebration of Service” memorial featuring photos of the staff members who had been let go, aiming to pay tribute and show solidarity during this tough time.
Inspired by this, employees at the main Bethesda Games Studio in Rockville, Maryland, created a similar memorial. However, just minutes after the BGS Union shared a photo of Rockville’s tribute, HR allegedly demanded its removal.
“Unfortunately, HR made our office manager take this down almost immediately,” the union account stated. “They said because it’s in a common area, it had to be removed. We’ve used common areas for many things as a team, including fan works, but HR seems to believe that a Celebration of Service is inappropriate.”
In 2022, Xbox committed to not opposing unionization efforts at Activision Blizzard as part of its strategy to persuade lawmakers and regulators to approve its acquisition of the company. They have upheld this promise, allowing studios to form and establish unions. However, union members have expressed frustration over Xbox’s slow progress in negotiations and delays in contract discussions regarding layoff protections and other concerns.
