Games giant EA tight-lipped on Galway job cuts

Gaming giant EA is remaining tight-lipped on the number of jobs that could be affected by ‘proposed’ redundancies at its Parkmore customer service centre.

It has been reported that anything up to 100 roles could be under threat as the company undergoes a restructuring announced by its Vice President in a conference call with employees.

The California-headquartered company has announced sweeping changes to its structure and among those is ‘closing some roles’ among the around 400 staff employed at its Galway base.

Employee representatives have been appointed to engage with management on redundancy packages, it is understood.

The company declined to outline the number of employees that would be impacted by the changes but in a statement to the Galway City Tribune, said it was working with those whose position is affected.

“We are always thinking about how we improve our player experience, and this includes reviewing how we can best provide the support they may need to enjoy them fully. With this in mind we have proposed some changes in our customer support function to five more flexibility and allow us to help players when they needed most.

“As part of this process we are considering changing a number of roles within the team, closing some roles and also creating new ones. We are working closely with our people throughout this process and are providing support to anyone whose role is impacted,” said the EA spokesperson.

Many of the employees at EA’s Parkmore offices continue to work from home, as the company prepares a return-to-work protocol.

Staff were informed of the changes during a 15-minute Zoom call, while no opportunity was provided to ask questions.

TD for Galway West, Minister of State Hildegarde Naughton, said the news came as a shock to employees at EA where she understood consultations between workers and management were ongoing.

“I’m very conscious of the workers and their families receiving this news. I know it is coming on top of what has been a very difficult couple of years for everyone and will be very worrying,” said Minister Naughton.

“The Government will make all necessary State assistance available to the workers, to help them find new employment, education and training opportunities as soon as possible,” she continued.

The news comes as EA announced it was to end its long-term licensing arrangement with FIFA, from which they produced annual soccer video games. The series is to be rebranded as EA Sports FC from next year.