A recent report has detailed the behind-the-scenes events surrounding Microsoft's mass layoffs, which saw approximately 1600 employees and several studios dismissed. The report highlights the detrimental effect these cuts and the uncertainty of future layoffs have had on the mindset of remaining workers, creating a sense of disposability.
Reports indicate that affected staff at Bethesda, ZeniMax, and id Software were informed of their termination via brief video calls. The call for Doom developers at id Software reportedly lasted less than a minute. Some id employees were instructed not to come into the office on the day of the announcement, despite having already begun their commute, with the meeting allegedly provided only about ten minutes' notice.
Within 48 hours of their termination, laid-off staff reportedly had their access to Slack and internal emails revoked, forcing them to seek further information through an internal company email address that was only accessible via the soon-to-be-deactivated accounts. One source cited in the report suggested that Microsoft attempted to shift much of the responsibility for managing the situation onto the unions representing some of the affected workers.
Staff at both id Software and ZeniMax claimed they did not receive clear indications from Xbox management regarding the direction of their projects or performance metrics. "All of the information that was ever visible to us out of those numbers meetings - out of the monthly staff meetings - were that we were doing fine," one source associated with Elder Scrolls Online developers ZeniMax stated. "You know, we're paying for ourselves. [We] were improving on the metrics [Microsoft] wanted us to improve on."
An id Software developer questioned the decision to make cuts to the studio before evaluating the initial reception of the Doom: The Dark Ages' Revelations DLC. "They didn't even wait to see if the product is successful before they got rid of the team," the developer commented, adding that "There are no benefits to being owned by Microsoft. In fact, they have destroyed immense amounts of value that I don't even think that they're aware of."
These events have led remaining staff to question the significance of their work in relation to job security, especially with further layoffs anticipated. One staff member described the mindset Microsoft is fostering as a "disposable worker mentality," suggesting that a lack of clarity on long-term job security and influence over project direction diminishes any incentive to strive for new goals.