SEGA of America is moving ahead with layoffs on 8 March 2024, that will affect 61 employees across the company's quality assurance and localisation departments.
The notice, relayed via a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) that was shared on Twitter earlier today, states that staff from two offices in Irvine, California will be impacted, with 12 being laid off in one office and 49 in another (as per GI.biz).
Proposed layoffs were made public back in November, following the successful unionisation of SEGA America's QA and localisation workers in July 2023. The plans were fought by the resulting Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (AEGIS) union for months before this apparent final decision had been made today, with AEGIS at the time alleging that SEGA America had not bargained in "good faith" by sidestepping union protocol.
An Unfair Labor Practice charge was reportedly made against SEGA in November, but as we previously reported, any investigation is unlikely to conclude before these layoffs take place.
Today, AEGIS released a statement on social media that took a dim view of SEGA's decision, but also announced that "through our union efforts, we’ve been able to more than double the number of saved jobs, and to offer severance to our temp workers." You can read the full statement below.
QuoteA few months ago, Sega management announced their plan to outsource QA and part of Localization in a move that would significantly impact our workforce.
We’ve been fighting back on these terms since then, but today the layoff that will result in the loss of 61 jobs across these two departments was made public.
Through our union efforts, we’ve been able to more than double the number of saved jobs, and to offer severance to our temp workers.
This, however, does not take away from the fact that many of our coworkers are being laid off in a decision we believe will have a negative impact on the working conditions of those who remain with the company, and in the quality of our future games.
In spite of this, we remain committed to fighting for our coworkers, and for the betterment of our industry. In the face of mass layoffs that continue to happen across gaming companies, we stand united and in solidarity with those affected.
Shiny Gems
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