Epic Games will offer full employment to hundreds of temporary QA workers

[midian182]

In brief: Good news if you happen to work as a temporary tester for Epic Games: the company will soon offer full-time employment, along with all associated benefits, to a few hundred of its contract-based staff in the US.

According to an employee-facing memo obtained by The Verge, Epic Games will “offer full-time at-will employment to eligible US-based contingent workers,” and “many of those offers will be effective April 4th, 2022.”

Spokesperson Elka Looks confirmed that a few hundred contractors will be hired and that most, but not all, of these will be quality assurance (QA) testers. Looks added that the workers would be directly employed by Epic Games and eligible for the company’s US employee benefits plan. The Verge notes that the studio currently uses temp agencies such as Eastridge, Hays, and Nextaff to contract out QA testers.

Epic Games' headquarters in Cary, North Carolina

Epic isn’t turning all of its temp workers into full-time staff. There will be some exceptions where the current employment arrangement is more suitable for both parties, and it will still hire contingent workers for “short-term needs.”

It’s refreshing to see some positive news relating to employment within the games industry, especially when it comes to QA testers. Back in December, employees at Activision Blizzard-owned studio Raven Software, which runs Call of Duty: Warzone, staged a walkout in protest over its decision to lay off a dozen quality assurance workers. Five weeks after striking, the QA testers founded the Game Workers Alliance in association with the Communications Workers of America (CWA).

We’re also used to seeing game companies laying off staff even after said firms generate record profits, and let’s not forget the punishing crunch culture that is still ubiquitous within the industry.

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https://www.techspot.com/news/93482-epic-games-offer-full-employment-hundreds-temporary-qa.html

 

[Dimitriid]

This seems like a good move until you realize that any company that hires temporary workers to do a part of their business that can be considered a core of their business, like testing the product that needs to go out to customers, should be hired as a full time employee with benefits BY LAW and shouldn't be a few chosen few out of this grand gesture.

That should be the bare minimum and if all Epic employees would say, attempt to form a union, they actually could negotiate something of that nature at the very least.

 

[yRaz]

This seems like a good move until you realize that any company that hires temporary workers to do a part of their business that can be considered a core of their business, like testing the product that needs to go out to customers, should be hired as a full time employee with benefits BY LAW and shouldn't be a few chosen few out of this grand gesture.

That should be the bare minimum and if all Epic employees would say, attempt to form a union, they actually could negotiate something of that nature at the very least.

I'm going to say something a little controversial here, but ALL THE UNIONS ARE HIRING. The reason for the bridge collapse in Pittsburgh? It's not a shortage of funds, it's a shortage of workers. Our biggest problem is getting people who will give up smoking marijuana to come work. It is crazy how many people are leaving their office jobs to come work with us because our wages are THAT much higher.

So going back to people who will work a temp job instead of finding a real career, it's on them at this point. I've been all over the east coast for work and I'm going up to Alaska for 2 months this summer. All of the Unions are highering around the country and march is open enrollment. In the winter I go around to job fairs at highschools talking about joining a union.

Something else people don't realise about the unions is we don't just need laborers and skilled tradesmen, we need accountants, people with business experience to make deals, engineers, onsite medical staff, people with tech degrees. Just because you apply to a Mason or Ironworkers union doesn't mean you have to out pouring concrete or welding.