Epic Games caves amid events at Activision Blizzard and hires staff for full-time positions with benefits

Many companies practice contract hiring. An attempt to get rid of such workers at Activision Blizzard led to protests. Epic Games has reacted

Epic Games told reporters at The Verge that it is transitioning contract workers to full-time positions. Earlier at Activision Blizzard, the firing of Raven contract testers led to a wave of protests and the formation of a union that has not yet been officially recognized.

“A few hundred people” can voluntarily switch to full-time employment at Epic (the company will make them an offer). At the same time, most of them are QA testers. 

This profession is “famous” for having far from the best working conditions and pay. Often, QA testers are simply “thrown out” if anything happens, as they are rarely hired on a permanent basis (usually on contract).

Epic will provide employees with eligible benefits, and they will be listed as Epic Games employees.

Workers will be able to make the transition starting April 4, 2022.

At the same time, Epic Games clarifies that not all workers will move to full-time employment. It does not look like the practice of hiring specialists on a contract basis will be completely abandoned in the foreseeable future.