Blizzard focuses on female empowerment and more representation of marginalized groups – targeted attention should be paid to new hires.
No matter how you turn it, the video game industry is still largely dominated by men. This is no different at Blizzard, where only 21% of all employees are women – about one in five employees.
Blizzard now wants to take a leading role and has sent an internal letter to employees to pursue a “global initiative for diversity and inclusion.”
Kotaku has gained insight into this letter, which comes from Mike Morhaime (CEO of Blizzard) and addresses several points that Blizzard wants to implement at all its locations.
Women still have a hard time at Blizzard
- Women leave Blizzard more often than men. This is currently the normal state in the industry, but Blizzard wants to change that.
- Blizzard aims for greater diversity and inclusion. “Underrepresented minorities” make up only about 14% at Blizzard, leaving room for improvement.
- While they do not want to commit to fixed quotas, employees conducting interviews are encouraged to allow more women to apply for open positions.
Additionally, planned collaborations with organizations such as “Girls Who Code” or advertising programs aim to reach potential applicants directly at the academies.
The letter also states that Blizzard is already doing quite a lot for equality and diversity. According to it, there is already an “LGBTQ Council” and a similar council made up of women from various levels of Blizzard. The purpose of these groups is to plan ideas that make Blizzard more attractive to women and a more rewarding workplace.
What do you think of Blizzard’s approach? Is it good to take a leading role here, or do you think that “women don’t belong in such companies anyway”?
Have you heard about Blizzard’s new AI project? Skynet is becoming a reality … maybe.
