All the way back in 2022, Microsoft made waves in the video game industry by striking a legally binding agreement with Communications Workers of America (CWA), the union that now represents thousands of workers within the company. “Microsoft will remain neutral when Activision Blizzard employees express interest in joining a union, providing a clear path to collective bargaining for almost 10,000 workers,” read a joint release from CWA and Microsoft during a time when the latter was facing regulatory scrutiny over its then-proposed purchase of Activision Blizzard. At the time, it seemed like a match made in heaven, but two years later, workers find themselves stuck in bargaining hell.
Today, approaching the third anniversary of the neutrality agreement and the second anniversary of QA workers at Zenimax – the first video game studio union at Microsoft – beginning the process of bargaining for a contract, CWA says proceedings have stalled. It chalks this up to Microsoft’s failure to address concerns about remote work, an issue that has led to outcry from workers at other Microsoft-owned companies like Activision, as well as Microsoft’s “unilateral decision to replace in-house quality assurance work with outsourced labor without notifying the union.”
Aftermath reached out to Microsoft for more details, but the company did not reply as of this publishing.
While early returns, like an agreement to curb destructive uses of AI, seemed promising, multiple rounds of mass layoffs soon followed in 2023 and 2024. The relationship between Microsoft and the nascent Zenimax QA union has since devolved.
“It’s become increasingly clear that although Microsoft tries to position itself as a good-faith employer, there’s another story being told behind the scenes at the bargaining table,” Zenimax Workers United member and senior QA tester Autumn Mitchell said in a statement received by Aftermath. “We are frustrated. Our union will continue fighting until we secure a first contract, and we’re prepared to do whatever it takes – even if that means withholding our labor.”
This follows demonstrations outside of Zenimax offices in Texas and Maryland last week, as well as a strike authorization from the hundreds-strong Zenimax bargaining unit earlier this month, which 94 percent of members voted in favor of. At the time, workers spoke out against return-to-office policies and what they viewed as penny pinching from their corporate overlords.
“Underpayment and costly RTO initiatives have caused many of us to put our lives on pause because our income does not match even the rising cost of living in the cities where ZeniMax insists we live and work to maintain employment,” said Zenimax senior QA Tester Zachary Armstrong in a release issued by CWA.
“Our in-house contractors have been working on minimal wages with no benefits, including no paid sick time,” associate QA Tester Aubrey Litchfield added. “Workers are choosing not to start families because of the uncertainty of finances. We’ve released multiple titles while working fully remote. When will enough be enough?”
Speaking with Aftermath, Mitchell explained how Microsoft's increased reliance on outsourced labor further imperils those contractors.
"We've got a lot of coworkers right now who have been contracted out for years at this point who are deeply integrated into our teams who need full-time jobs they can really rely on – jobs with sick leave, benefits, decent wages, etc," she said. "Being told there isn't any room for that while simultaneously employing outsourced QA on our projects is a significant threat to those serious needs, and from our eyes, quite hypocritical. We're not saying outsourced work can't exist. There's a place in this industry for QA that can help facilitate a surge in work. We believe, based on up-close experience on these projects, that there's enough room for both."
