Activision Blizzard makes 1100 testers full-time workers and raises their pay, except for Raven QA team

Activision Blizzard has decided to convert 1,100 testers to full-time employees and increase their pay in the wake of ongoing criticism. However, members of the Raven Software QA team won’t get any raises.

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• All US-based temporary and contingent testers at Activision Blizzard will become full-time workers starting July 1, the company’s vice president of corporate communications Jessica Taylor said in a statement.
• The publisher will raise the minimum hourly rate for testers from $18.5 to $20 an hour starting April 17. These employees will also receive bonuses and other benefits.
• This move will increase headcount at Activision’s publishing division by 25%.
• However, QA workers at Raven Software won’t see a pay raise “due to legal obligations under the National Labor Relations Act” (via Bloomberg).
• An Activision Blizzard spokesperson also noted that Raven employees’ decision to form a union “has nothing to do with the salary increases elsewhere for Activision’s QA workers.”

Last December, Activision Blizzard laid off 20 testers (about a third of the Raven QA team) as part of its decision to promote 500 temporary workers across the company to full-time positions.

This resulted in massive walkouts and led to Raven employees announcing their intent to form a union earlier this year. Speaking of unionization, Microsoft noted that it won’t stand in the way in case Activision Blizzard approves a union.