Report: Activision Blizzard is expected to cut 136 jobs from its Cork office

Microsoft is reportedly set to slash more than a hundred jobs at Activision Blizzard’s Cork office.

As first reported in the Irish Examiner, minister for foreign affairs, or Tánaiste, Michéal Martin – who raised the issue in the Dáil, the Irish government – revealed that 136 of the approximately 200 jobs in Blackpool, Cork, were expected to be cut, calling the redundancies “very serious”.

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“Companies should not be allowed to waltz into this country, announce life-changing cutbacks to people’s jobs and simply refuse to talk to the representatives chosen by people who have given long years of service to their employer,” said People Before Profit TD, Mick Barry.

Barry further added that the company “refuses to engage with the trade union chosen by these workers to represent them”.

At the time of writing, it’s believed the cuts will be contained to the Cork offices, with the further 200 or so jobs in the Dublin office reportedly unaffected by the cuts. Activision Blizzard has yet to respond formerly to the report.

If true, these redundancies come on top of the “painful decision” to lay off 1900 people across Activision Blizzard, ZeniMax and Xbox just last month.

“It’s been a little over three months since the Activision, Blizzard, and King teams joined Microsoft,” Xbox boss Phil Spencer wrote in his email to staff at the time. “As we move forward in 2024, the leadership of Microsoft Gaming and Activision Blizzard is committed to aligning on a strategy and an execution plan with a sustainable cost structure that will support the whole of our growing business.

“Together, we’ve set priorities, identified areas of overlap, and ensured that we’re all aligned on the best opportunities for growth.”

The layoffs follow Microsoft’s $69bn acquisition of Activision Blizzard last year, and $7.5bn acquisition of Zenimax in 2021.