Activision Blizzard, Inc. (Nasdaq: ATVI) CEO Bobby Kotick today
sent the following letter to all employees.
October 28, 2021
A few weeks ago, I reiterated our commitment to become the most
welcoming, inclusive company in our industry. Today, I want to
update you on some initial progress and important, additional steps
we are taking to advance our commitment with greater impact,
transparency, and urgency.
First, I want to offer my sincere gratitude for your continued
focus and dedication to our players – and to each other. You’ve
shown incredible resilience throughout the pandemic, exceptional
care for colleagues and communities, and the relentless commitment
to excellence, creative independence, and purpose that always sets
our company – and our franchises – apart. During a tremendously
challenging time for so many people, you’ve continued to bring joy
and connection to our players and communities around the world.
My goal – and the goal of our Board, our entire senior corporate
team, our business unit leaders, and their teams – is to make sure
you have the resources, culture, and commitment from leadership you
need to succeed in our collective aspiration to be the model
workplace in our industry.
Over the last decade, as we’ve brought in new companies, grown
our workforce, and expanded our business, we believed we had the
systems, policies, and people in place to ensure that our company
always lived up to its reputation as a great place to work.
Clearly, in some vitally important aspects, we didn’t.
The guardrails weren’t in place everywhere to ensure that our
values were being upheld. In some cases, people didn’t consistently
feel comfortable reporting concerns, or their concerns weren’t
always addressed promptly or properly. People were deeply let down
and, for that, I am truly sorry.
Being welcoming and inclusive, in the context of our workplace,
is crystal clear. We will still passionately debate ideas, employ
healthy skepticism when appropriate, and demand excellence and
rigor in all of our pursuits – but we will always treat each
other with dignity and respect. And regardless of differences,
voices will be heard, perspectives welcomed, and contributions
valued.
We are a business fueled by passion and performance. These are
cornerstones of our creative excellence but we must constantly
recognize, embrace, and celebrate that the very best ideas, the
most rigorous execution of those ideas, and ultimately our
responsibility to our players and each other are best served by a
culture that recognizes and respects that true excellence comes
from diverse views, voices, and talents.
We’ve made progress over the last few years fostering that
diversity and creating a better work environment – a commitment
that has improved in scope and speed in recent months. We’ve
tripled our investment in anti-harassment and anti-discrimination
training; we’ve made meaningful organizational changes; and we’ve
substantially increased resources for reporting and carefully
investigating improper behavior.
The EEOC’s investigative process, public discussion on
discrimination and harassment, and your reports and suggestions
helped shine a light on practices we need to improve, policies that
need to be strengthened, and resources we are now adding. The
EEOC’s review was a catalyst to sharpen our focus on the ways we
can become a company others emulate as a model for workplace
excellence and one with an unwavering commitment to its values.
We have a lot more to do if we are to be the
company that others emulate.
I want to share five new changes we are implementing, but
recognize being a model for workplace excellence will be a dynamic
process requiring additional changes and an unrelenting commitment
to improvement.
- We are launching a new zero-tolerance harassment policy company-wide
– In the past, when we discovered and substantiated harassment, we
terminated some employees and provided verbal or written warnings
or different disciplinary actions to others. In retrospect, to
achieve our goals for workplace excellence, this approach is no
longer adequate. We need tougher rules and consistent monitoring
across the entire company to make sure reports are being handled
correctly and discipline is appropriate and swift. As a result, we
are implementing a zero-tolerance policy across Activision Blizzard
that will be applied consistently. Our goal is to have the
strictest harassment and non-retaliation policies of any employer,
and we will continue to examine and tighten our standards to
achieve this goal everywhere we do business. Any Activision
Blizzard employee found through our new investigative processes and
resources to have retaliated against anyone for making a compliance
complaint will be terminated immediately. In many other
instances of workplace misconduct, we will no longer rely on
written warnings: termination will be the outcome, including in
most cases of harassment based on any legally protected
category. Future employment contracts and equity awards will be
clear: termination for these reasons will result in the immediate
forfeiture of future compensation. We also want to ensure that
employees who file reports are encouraged, protected, and heard.
For all reports of harassment and retaliation, we will
investigate the allegation and whether the Activision Blizzard
personnel who received the report of such behavior took the
appropriate steps to protect the integrity of our compliance
processes. There may be some places around the world where local
law may restrict some of these measures. In those cases, we will
apply the highest permissible standards and the strongest possible
discipline.
- We will increase the percentage of women and non-binary
people in our workforce by 50% and will invest $250 million to
accelerate opportunities for diverse talent –Today,
approximately 23% of our global employee population identifies as
women or non-binary. Building on the success that King and other
business units have achieved, we will seek to increase our
percentage of women and non-binary professionals by approximately
50% – to more than one-third across the entire company – within the
next five years and hopefully faster. Each franchise team, business
unit, and functional area will be expected to have plans to help
fulfill this ambition. With respect to diversity, while we perform
better than our peers with 30% of our U.S. workforce from diverse
or under-represented communities, broadening this progress will
continue to be a significant focus of mine as well as company,
business unit, and franchise leadership. To further this
commitment, we’ll be investing an additional $250 million over
the next 10 years in initiatives that foster expanded opportunities
in gaming and technology for under-represented communities.
This commitment includes inspiring diverse talent to pursue career
opportunities in gaming through an ABK Academy that includes
partnerships with colleges and technical schools serving
under-represented communities, mentorships for participants, and a
rotating apprenticeship program that leads to game development
jobs, similar to the programs we began with the United Negro
College Fund and Management Leadership for Tomorrow. We will also
provide learning, development, and advanced degree opportunities
for current employees to increase the number of women and those
from under-represented communities in leadership positions across
the company and in our industry. In the coming months, Brian
Bulatao, Julie Hodges, and I will share details about how we are
operationalizing these goals and implementing and measuring this
expanded investment.
- Based on feedback from employees, we are waiving required
arbitration of sexual harassment and discrimination claims –
For any Activision Blizzard employee who chooses not to arbitrate
an individual claim of sexual harassment, unlawful discrimination,
or related retaliation arising in the future, the company will
waive any obligation to do so.
- We will continue to increase visibility on pay equity –
As described in the recent note from our President, Daniel Alegre,
and our Chief Administrative Officer, Brian Bulatao, the company
continues to focus on pay equity for employees. In fact, our U.S.
analysis showed that women at the company on average earned
slightly more than men for comparable work in 2020. To ensure
transparency on our continuing commitment to pay equity, we will
report these results annually.
- We will provide regular progress updates – We will be
monitoring the progress of our business units, franchise teams, and
functional leaders with respect to workplace initiatives and we
will provide a status report quarterly. We also will be adding a
dedicated focus on this vital work in our annual report to
shareholders and in our annual ESG report with information on
gender hiring, diversity hiring, and workplace progress.
Specifics on how these measures will be implemented and tracked
will be forthcoming.
Lastly, I want to ensure that every available resource is being
used in the service of becoming the industry leader in workplace
excellence. Accordingly, I have asked our Board of Directors to
reduce my total compensation until the Board has determined that we
have achieved the transformational gender-related goals and other
commitments described above. Specifically, I have asked the
Board to reduce my pay to the lowest amount California law will
allow for people earning a salary, which this year is $62,500.
To be clear, this is a reduction in my overall compensation, not
just my salary. I am asking not to receive any bonuses or be
granted any equity during this time.
There’s a tendency when companies face challenging moments to
lose sight of what makes them special, what makes them great. You
are a truly special group of people who – through passion,
conviction, drive, and determination – keep accomplishing
extraordinary things. While the critical work ahead won’t be easy,
I am confident our collective commitment to workplace excellence
will be achieved.
I truly wish not a single employee had had an experience at work
that resulted in hurt, humiliation, or worse – and to those who
were affected, I sincerely apologize. You have my commitment that
we will do everything possible to honor our values and create the
workplace every member of this team deserves.
I am grateful for how much people care about this company, and I
appreciate that many past and present employees have reached out
with their thoughts, concerns, complaints, and suggestions. Your
experiences, so courageously shared, serve as reason and reminder
for why it is so important for us to do better. And we will.
With thanks and deepest gratitude, Bobby
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This press release may contain forward-looking statements within
the meaning of The Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of
1995. We may, in some cases, use terms such as “predicts,”
“believes,” “potential,” “proposed,” “continue,” “estimates,”
“anticipates,” “expects,” “plans,” “intends,” “may,” “could,”
“might,” “will,” “should” or other words that convey uncertainty of
future events or outcomes to identify these forward-looking
statements. Such statements are subject to numerous important
factors, risks and uncertainties that may cause actual events or
results to differ materially from the Company’s current
expectations. These and other risks are described in the Company’s
periodic reports, including the annual report on Form 10-K,
quarterly reports on Form 10-Q and current reports on Form 8-K,
filed with or furnished to the Securities and Exchange Commission
and available at www.sec.gov. Any forward-looking statements that
the Company makes in this press release speak only as of the date
of this press release. The Company assumes no obligation to update
forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information,
future events or otherwise, after the date of this press
release.
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