In a new development on the series of controversies surrounding Ubisoft, Ubisoft Milan has joined Ubisoft France in their strike against a return-to-office requirement. The initiative came from Italy’s Fiom Cgil union, Milan branch after they pushed back Ubisoft’s return-to-office policy. They have since expressed solidarity with Ubisoft France’s strike this week.
In Ubisoft’s policy, the former work-from-home employees are now required to physically attend the office three days per week. This new policy has been brewing since earlier this year and affected all Ubisoft studios. Ubisoft cites enhancing consistency, creativity, and teamwork as some of its reasons.
To that, Fiom Cgil representative Andrea Rosafalco answered, “It is unthinkable that a young person who lives in another region or in any case far from our territory could spend three days a week in Milan, turning their existence upside down. It is not economically sustainable and unfair on a human level.”
A Mass Exodus Might be Underway
The damage, however, seems to have already been done. Based on a report from Insider Gaming, Ubisoft Milan employees– especially those heavily affected by the RTO policy are planning to leave the studio. Some of them might even be planning to join another studio called Day 4 Night. The studio was notably founded by a former Ubisoft Creative Director.
Earlier in the week, it was Ubisoft France voicing out its grievances for the same RTO policy. It was a longer three-day strike manned by 700 employees.
Prior to the RTO mandate, Ubisoft employees enjoyed three years of WFH status following the COVID-19 pandemic. Then, Ubisoft Montreal was the first to enact the RTO policy. Management then expected other studios in other countries to follow suit.
At the time, several of the Ubisoft Montreal staff believed that the sudden implementation of the RTO policy was a way for the studio to force employees to quit without severance.
