Activision Blizzard Converts All US-Based QA Testers To Full-Time Employees With Benefits, Increased Wages

gameinformer.com:

Activision Blizzard has announced that it has converted all U.S.-based quality assurance testers to full-time employees, giving them access to full benefits and hourly wage increases. 

This news comes by way of CharlieINTEL on Twitter, which posted a statement from Activision Blizzard and an internal company email in regards to today’s news. In the statement, it’s revealed that nearly 1100 QA team members in temporary and contingent roles – contract – will be converted to full-time employees starting July 1. The minimum hourly rate for these employees will be increased to $20 an hour, effective April 17 and they’ll gain access to full company benefits and the opportunity to participate in Activision Blizzard’s bonus plan. 

“Across Activision Blizzard, we are bringing more content to players across our franchises than ever before,” an Activision Blizzard spokesperson writes in the statement. “As a result, we are refining how our teams work together to develop our games and deliver the best possible experiences for our players. We have ambitious plans for the future and our Quality Assurance (QA) team members are a critical part of our development efforts.” 

Activision Blizzard says this change “follows a process that began last year across AP [Activision Publishing] and Blizzard of converting temporary and contingent employees, including 500 at AP’s studios, to permanent full-time employees.” That change began last year following layoffs of at least a dozen QA contractors at Raven Software, a studio within the Activision Blizzard umbrella. Following the layoffs, an Activision Blizzard spokesperson told Game Informer that it had begun to convert 500 contract employees to full-time employees while also revealing that 20