Evolution, a recognizable gaming and entertainment company that operates across the globe, ran into trouble after workers from its Georgia division confirmed their intention to strike earlier this year. Less than 500 workers were expected to strike amid allegations of poor working conditions, issues with management and insufficient pay.
Last month, Evolution said it doesn’t “expect any significant impact” on the services it delivers from its Georgia studio due to the strike. However, with more workers protesting and asking for improvements in their work conditions, as well as issues with one local trade union, the company confirmed it has taken the difficult decision to let go a portion of its employees in the country.
Evolution confirmed that the downsizing has already started, and the layoffs are expected to affect approximately 1,000 workplaces. The company described the decision to cut 1,000 roles as both difficult and sad. Evolution explained that the “unjust activities initiated by one of the local trade unions,” caused significant damage to its operations.
“The first stage of the assessment is completed and as a result, Evolution is starting the downsizing process to reduce the operational workforce of the Georgian studio by 1000 roles,“
reads a statement released by Evolution Strike Causes Ongoing Damage to the Company’s Operations While initially, an estimated 5,000 workers had to participate in the strike against the company, as noted, Evolution claimed only 500 employees are expected to go on strike. That may have been the case initially, but earlier this month, things escalated, and some 2,000 employees didn’t go to work. The aforementioned figure represented a large portion of Evolution’s morning shift workers.
The leading gaming and entertainment company addressed the recent issues and explained in a recent statement: “The decision to reduce the workforce of Evolution Studio in Georgia has been made due to the ongoing damage caused by Evolution’s business partners as a result of the unlawful blockade, and unfortunately, this decision is final.”
Evolution confirmed that it has decided to move “most of the specific tables of business partners to other countries in the world.” The required process was already initiated, the company added.
Per Evolution’s recent statement, unless the current situation improves, further restrictions and potential layoffs are not excluded. The globally recognizable gaming company acknowledged its efforts in Georgia, offering “tens of thousands of jobs” to inexperienced people as a good career start. Still, Evolution admitted that it has encountered issues, outlining it will focus on resolving them and improving its operations going forward.