Activision developers working for Call of Duty are protesting against this Microsoft policy, here’s what the company said

Quality assurance testers at Microsoft-owned Activision Blizzard's Eden Prairie, Minnesota studio have gone on strike to protest the company's return-to-work policy. The strike, supported by the Communications Workers of America (CWA) union, began last week. The dispute stems from Microsoft’s mandate requiring QA staff to return to the office full-time after years of remote and hybrid work arrangements. The CWA has criticised the policy, calling it a "soft layoff" and alleging that Activision is "insisting workers must work in the office - even those with serious medical conditions." The company’s workers group, ABetterABK, has also shared a post on social media platform X (earlier Twitter) to share their grievances.


In the X post, Activision employees wrote: “In January of this year, we were forced into the office full-time under an unforgiving and unequal policy, decided on our behalf and without our input. Since then, we've also learned that the company is unwilling to provide people with remote work accommodations, even when it's the only option that meets an employee's needs, due to this alienating policy.
As union stewards, they've also avoided our good faith and legal requests for information about the status of how our position requires us to work in-office as an essential function. They have chosen to misinterpret our legal requests as a status quo change and redirected us to the Bargaining Committee, refusing to elaborate further on the subject.
We've further been disrespected by the email discussing National Disability Employment Awareness Month, which depicted a disabled person working from home while our coworkers in need are not allowed this essential tool for equal accessibility. They have been championing DE&I while they continually fail us.
In light of this flagrant disrespect towards us, we have chosen to take action in solidarity with our affected coworkers. Today, AQAU-CWA will be holding a rally in protest against the company. We will have news media present to document the real stories of our coworkers who have unfortunately suffered due to the refusal of the company to properly accommodate (them).
We can't let them trick us out of our rights; it is time to treat them to a show of our strength and solidarity to tell them: ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.”

In a statement to Eurogamer, an Activision spokesperson said that the company acknowledged returning to offices had been "an adjustment for some" and that discussions over specific employee's needs were still "ongoing" since the best part of a year since the policy was first announced.
The Activision spokesperson stated: “We respect our employees' rights to express their point of view. We understand that returning to the office has been an adjustment for some. We engage in an interactive process with employees who request accommodations. This is an ongoing conversation at the bargaining table, and we will continue to discuss our respective interests in that forum.”