Activision Blizzard has found itself in quite a dire situation as of late due to the recent scrutiny it has faced from both official and unofficial organizations. While the president of the company, Bobby Kotick, has promised a better workplace overall, such promise was met with skepticism and negativity due to the history of the company (and himself) with discrimination.
Thus, we find ourselves met with a new letter penned by COO of the company Daniel Alegre that showed diversity data for the entire company and pledges to improve on this front and on the pay gap that currently exists.
So, let’s start crunching those numbers without any dilation. According to Alegre, the representation data goes as follows:
Our employees who self-identify as women globally make up 24% of our overall workforce. That is identical to our peer gaming companies that publicly disclose this data. Within our business units, however, these numbers vary widely – with some exceeding this industry comparison and others behind. Importantly, women represented 29% of ABK hires and 26% of ABK attrition in 2021.
In the U.S., 36% of employees identify as a member of an underrepresented ethnic group (UEG). This lags behind the data available from our peers (showing 40% representation).
If you want to see the data for yourself from the investigation, you can review the data sorted by the full company, which means Corporate, Activision Publishing, Blizzard, and King here.
Daniel Alegre makes it known through this letter that in an effort for more transparency and accountability the company is sharing its full data instead of “cherry-picking” where it excels. According to him, the company now has a commitment to improving its gender representation. Unfortunately, the letter also comes with a warning about making expectations surrounding how many improvements the company will have.
While representation company-wide is similar to our peer gaming companies in the United States, this is wholly inadequate in my mind. We will do better. We have a lot of work to do as we build an organization where diversity is as much a core value as innovation.
A few weeks ago, we committed to increasing women and non-binary representation at ABK by 50% to account for more than one-third of our Company within the next five years. Leadership across the Company, myself included, is accountable to make this happen. Candid, engaged, and respectful dialogue between diverse, welcoming and passionate employees is crucial to these important ambitions. Your input and participation in this process is invaluable.
We may, in some cases, use terms such as “predicts,” “believes,” “potential,” “proposed,” “continue,” “estimates,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “could,” “might,” “will,” “should” or other words that convey uncertainty of future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking statements. Such statements are subject to numerous important factors, risks and uncertainties, that may cause actual events or results to differ materially from the Company’s current expectations
For now, what are the future focus plans for Activision Blizzard? Well, Alegre states in the letter that Activision Blizzard is going to focus in several key areas for 2022:
- Hire or put in place additional DE&I leaders at the ABK and division levels
- Tie yearly diversity goals to respective ABK and division Executive Leadership performance goals
- Invest in learning and development curriculum that fosters a culture of inclusion
- Stand up manager and executive mentorship and sponsorship programs aimed at unlocking upward mobility for UEGs and women
- Continue evolving ABK’s talent and recruiting system, including launching ABK Academy
The case regarding Activision Blizzard continues.
The post Activision Blizzard Promises Greater Diversity; COO Speaks of 2021’s Representation Data by Ule Lopez appeared first on Wccftech.
