• Gaming giant EA has begun cutting jobs as part of a “restructuring process.”
• The job cuts are coming even as EA’s CEO Andrew Wilson describes that the company is in a “position of power.“
• It is expected that 780 workers will leave EA as part of the cuts, and join over 300 000 other employees cut from the tech industry since 2022.

While job cuts have recently become a common occurrence in big tech, the gaming industry has somehow managed to evade the brunt of the layoffs. That is until today, as gaming giant EA announces that it is looking to reduce its workforce.

EA is seeking to cut 6 percent of its employees. According to The Verge, EA manages around 13 000 employees, so around 780 jobs will be affected. Despite the layoffs, EA’s chief executive Andrew Wilson says that the company “is operating from a position of power.”

“Our business is gaining momentum as we continue to deliver high quality games and amazing content across some of the largest, most beloved franchises in the world,” he writes in an official blog post.

He says the properties of EA SPORTS FIFA 23, Apex Legends, and The Sims continue to bolster the company’s bottom line. However, there will still be cuts as the company begins, “moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams.”

“These decisions are expected to impact approximately six percent of our company’s workforce. This is the most difficult part, and we are working through the process with the utmost care and respect.”

Wilson says that EA is providing opportunities for employees affected by the restructuring to move on to other projects. However, where this is not possible, it is providing, “severance pay and additional benefits such as health care and career transition services.”

“I want to extend my deep appreciation to all our employees who have contributed to our incredible story so far. It’s through your love of games that we continue to deliver on our mission of inspiring the world to play,” says Wilson.

Tech industry layoffs have become a common occurrence since the closing months of 2022. Workforce reductions have come to what seems like a laundry list of companies, from Meta, to Twitter, to Disney, Dell, Amazon, Alphabet, Spotify and on and on.

The throughline remains similar for most companies exercising cuts. Enormous growth during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdowns led to a culture of mass hiring. As the growth slowed due to a global economic downturn and increased interest rates, companies began eliminating bloated teams to conserve revenues.

According to tech layoffs tracker site Layoffs.fyi, featured by Bloomberg, Wall Street Journal, and TechCrunch, there have been 156 242 employees laid off across the tech industry in 2023. Since 2022, a total of over 317 653 people have left the industry.

[Image – Photo by Maxim Abramov on Unsplash]