CD-Projekt Red Employees Unionize After Cyberpunk 2077 Developer Layoffs
Employees at CD-Projekt Red join with others in the Polish video game industry to unionize after three waves of layoffs.
Layoffs in large numbers have been haunting the video game industry internationally, as companies around the globe lay off hundreds of hardworking employees despite profits and record sales numbers. No job is safe when capitalism comes calling. Well almost no job. CEOs continue to net record salaries. And even when businesses are dragged through legal battles or struggle at launch, CEO pay continues across the board to rise.
So. You know. The system working for the wealthy, per usual. But, at least in Poland, a group of CD-Proje kt Red employees are hoping to safeguard themselves by joining with others in the Polish game industry to unionize.
CD-Projekt Red Employees Unionize
In a statement translated by Eurogamer, the CD-Projekt Red Employees talked about the reasoning behind the move to organize:
“We started talking about unionizing after the 2023 wave of layoffs when nine per cent of Reds (that is roughly 100 people) were let go.
This event created a tremendous amount of stress and insecurity, affecting our mental health and leading to the creation of this union in response. Having a union means having more security, transparency, better protection, and a stronger voice in times of crisis.
The above shows how employers tend to view their interests to be in conflict with those of their employees. While employees are the ones creating value in this arrangement, they lack any decision power in company-structure-related matters. That is why we need to organise to enter those situations on equal footing.
We believe that the mass lay-offs are a danger to the gamedev industry and we believe that unionising is a way for us to preserve the industry’s potential.”
Earlier this year, CDPR laid off employees in three different waves, starting in May, June, and then July, totalling almost 160 redundancies. Thus far there has been no response from management, though per the founding members of the movement, all documentation has been submitted, so executives should be aware of the union.
More on the story as it develops.
