One in four Ubisoft employees have seen or witnessed misconduct at work, staff survey reveals
"Everyone at Ubisoft should be able to feel confident and have the same opportunities."
An anonymous staff survey undertaken by 14,000 Ubisoft employees has revealed that 20 per cent of staff don't feel "respected or safe in the work environment" at the company, with 25 per cent of respondents - that's one in four - reporting they had either experienced or witnessed workplace misconduct.
According to The Verge, the survey - the results of which were shared alongside a letter from CEO Yves Guillemot - identified that women and non-binary employees, in particular, were more likely to have seen or experienced harassment.
Currently, women make up 22 per cent of all staff at the company. In correspondence to all staff, Guillemot confirmed Ubisoft was looking to improve the gender balance of the organisation by increasing the number of women employed at Ubisoft by 2 per cent by 2023 and committed to hiring a new head of diversity and inclusion and new vice presidents.
"Everyone at Ubisoft should be able to feel confident and have the same opportunities, regardless of their gender, skin colour, religion, age, or other individual traits," concluded Guillemot's letter.
As we summarised a little while back, Ubisoft has found itself at the centre of multiple allegations from staff regarding toxic work conditions at the company, including allegations of serious sexual misconduct aimed at members of senior management - some of who have since parted ways with the publisher. Addressing the situation earlier this month, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot said he was "determined to do everything in [his] power to ensure that everyone at Ubisoft feels welcomed, respected, and safe".
Most recently, Ubisoft announced that Rayman and Beyond Good & Evil creator Michel Ancel had left to work at a wildlife sanctuary after 30 years with the company. A new article from French newspaper Libération shed additional light on his departure, however, reporting that it followed an investigation into complaints accusing him of toxic leadership.