Posts tagged Microsoft
Google Axes 12,000 Jobs As Big Tech Layoffs Continue
January 25, 2023 // The Google layoffs follow heavy jobs cuts at Facebook parent company Meta, Amazon, Microsoft, Salesforce and numerous other firms as higher interest rates and fears of a recession hammer the tech sector. According to an analysis conducted earlier this week by The Standard, tech companies have laid off roughly 90,000 workers in the last year and more than 12,000 workers in San Francisco during this month alone. Those layoffs span major local employers such as Salesforce and a smattering of smaller startups.
Labor union wants more SC auto workers, manufacturers split on response
January 18, 2023 // The UAW has about 55,000 members working in the southern states — about 15 percent of union active members nationwide — building Daimler trucks in North Carolina, SUVs in Tennessee, and automotive and airplane parts in Alabama. About 2,500 members live in South Carolina, but most are retirees or surviving spouses. The number of working UAW members in South Carolina statewide is 364. Palmetto state’s lack of members is consistent with the state’s overall ranking of having the lowest percentage of unionized workers nationwide — just 2 percent, according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics.
Tech Layoffs Threaten Unions’ Plan to Draw White-Collar Workers
January 18, 2023 // Some 500 technology companies have axed nearly 100,000 workers since last October, according to Layoffs.fyi, a public database of tech layoffs. Amazon this month announced it would cut 18,000 jobs, and on the same day, cloud computing company Salesforce and the online video-sharing service Vimeo said they would slash 10% and 11% of their staffs, respectively. Meta, formerly known as Facebook, said in November it would eliminate 11,000 jobs—about 13% of its staff. Those reductions in force don’t bode well for unions that have increasingly funneled resources into tech organizing, which was, until recently, seen as an ever-growing pool of potential members. The AFL-CIO, the nation’s largest labor federation, last year raised membership fees for the first time in two decades, hoping to raise $10 million a year for new organizing. Union leaders this month flocked to Las Vegas for the CES technology conference, set on understanding how the latest innovations in artificial intelligence could disrupt their industries.
Unions want it to be ‘game over’ for the secret ballot
January 17, 2023 // The Employee Rights Act is a worker-centric bill that will make sure people considering unionization are able to do so without the intimidation and coercion associated with card check organizing. If the CWA is offering good value for potential members, it should not be afraid of a private vote.
Worker strikes and union elections surged in 2022 – could it mark a turning point for organized labor?
January 10, 2023 // The increase in strike activity is also important. And while the major strikes that involve 1,000 or more employees and are tracked by the Bureau of Labor Statistics arouse the greatest attention, they represent only the tip of the iceberg. The bureau recorded 20 major strikes in 2022, which is about 25% more than the average of 16 a year over the past two decades.
ZeniMax Workers United Votes to Unionize, With Microsoft Formally Recognizing Its First Union
January 5, 2023 // While Microsoft has voluntarily recognized its very first union, Blizzard has tended to oppose efforts, with reasoning that ranges from direct communication with workers is a better option and claiming that QA workers alone should not be able to take a union vote, but the entire studio should get the chance to cast a ballot. The ZeniMax QA workers announced their intention to have a union vote last month, and this news follows the announcement by Blizzard’s recently-acquisition, Spellbreak development studio Proletariat, of a desire to unionize the entire studio.
Around 300 QA workers at Microsoft-owned ZeniMax are organizing a union
December 8, 2022 // As labor movements in the video game industry build up momentum, over 300 quality assurance workers at ZeniMax Online Studios, former Bethesda parent company and current subsidiary of Microsoft, are in the process of organizing a union. The workers are organizing in collaboration with CODE-CWA, which has assisted in the formation of Activision Blizzard’s two unions. In a statement on Twitter, ZeniMax Workers United posted: “Today we, a majority of QA workers at ZeniMax, are proud to announce the launch of our union with [CODE-CWA]. We are the first group of workers at Microsoft to formally unionize. We are empowered to advocate for ourselves & build a future where we can thrive alongside the company.”
Labor union tells FTC it supports Microsoft’s Activision acquisition
July 5, 2022 // “Microsoft’s binding commitments will give employees a seat at the table and ensure that the acquisition of Activision Blizzard benefits the company’s workers and the broader video game labor market,” CWA President Christopher Shelton said in the letter to the FTC.
How Microsoft’s union agreement could shape the rest of the tech industry
June 21, 2022 // It remains to be seen how Microsoft’s neutrality agreement will impact broader tech labor organizing efforts—including among its own staff. A former Microsoft employee and tech worker organizer who asked not to be named tells Fast Company that a major shortcoming of the agreement was that it only applies to Activision, which could create a “division” between Microsoft employees. pro-labor tech workers
Microsoft signs ‘labor neutrality agreement’ with union representing Activision Blizzard employees
June 15, 2022 // Due to significant workplace issues within the larger video game industry, such as poor scheduling and hire-and-fire cycles, unionization efforts have been growing on a grassroots level for at least the last four years. The CWA agreement with Microsoft marks one of the most significant steps forward for the overall movement, and while Microsoft’s responsibilities all amount to simply staying out of the way, it remains one of the most pro-union moves by a major industry player to date.