300 ESO Customer Service Employees Let Go

Kahl_dur · December 2015

JamilaRaj wrote: »

That makes sense. Some had to be kept around to turn off the lights.
Anyway, The Un-laid-off Six shoud get some achievement for survining The Great Galway Christmas Massacre of 2015.

I've been fortunate to have never lost a job during the holidays, and I can only imagine what it would be like. I'm sure the decision couldn't have been an easy one for ZOS. I have so much fun playing ESO, I sometimes lose site that this game is a business.

ZOS_GinaBruno · December 2015

Hi everyone,

Following the successful console launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited in June, we have a thriving console and PC online community. We adjusted customer support levels in mid-August by reducing staffing by approximately 50 people to reflect the game’s stability and the needs of our players. This is a normal practice. We have been diligently working with the IDA, and the employees affected by this decision since the summer. We are disappointed by the inaccuracies in the report of the Connacht Tribune.

zornyan · December 2015

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Following the successful console launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited in June, we have a thriving console and PC online community. We adjusted customer support levels in mid-August by reducing staffing by approximately 50 people to reflect the game’s stability and the needs of our players. This is a normal practice. We have been diligently working with the IDA, and the employees affected by this decision since the summer. We are disappointed by the inaccuracies in the report of the Connacht Tribune.

Thanks for clearing it up gina, it's unfortunate that the websites proclaim things as fact, when in fact they couldn't be further off the mark.

To everyone else, this is very very normal practise in gaming, especially mmos, since at release they will have millions of new customers, which means there will be a larger number if customer service requests, this dies down extremely quickly once the game and community is settled in.

It's the same with game developers, many teams of people are hired to design the base game, but far less coders are required to make up and coming dlc/patches etc.

FuzzyDuck79 · December 2015

No the game is doing so well they released a free play weekend, had a million dollar giveaway, reduced the game to around $30 because everyone bought a copy.... And that's why the staff got fired - because they had nothing to do because the game is so great that there are no bugs to complain about or submit tickets for. I can see that too now....

_Chaos · December 2015

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Following the successful console launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited in June, we have a thriving console and PC online community. We adjusted customer support levels in mid-August by reducing staffing by approximately 50 people to reflect the game’s stability and the needs of our players. This is a normal practice. We have been diligently working with the IDA, and the employees affected by this decision since the summer. We are disappointed by the inaccuracies in the report of the Connacht Tribune.

Should've responded to their requests for contact eh

It's okay, rookie PR mistake, every company has been there.

revonine · December 2015

timidobserver wrote: »

Junkogen wrote: »

Right before Christmas? Damn, that's cold.

Though, do the Irish even celebrate Christmas?

Lol yes we celebrate Christmas. But religious? Maybe 20 years ago.

Flame · December 2015

Divinius wrote: »

Jura23 wrote: »

terrordactyl1971 wrote: »

Sad, the game must be struggling

Or it's doing so well that ppl don't submit enough tickets to keep customer service occupied.

Something tells me that this is not the case.

It may very well be. I submitted a request to have my account name changed (not a priority ticket by any means), and it was handled in less than an hour. I was honestly amazed. It was the fastest I've ever had a request handled by any company. I made sure to fill out a feedback form with a glowing report, so hopefully my report saved someone's job!

Eshelmen · December 2015

lol I can see the million dollar sweepstakes being pulled too.

Tyr · December 2015

The game is NOT doing poorly. I you look at the leaderboard participation if anything it's actually DOING better in Europe than in NA.

We also have pretty concrete evidence based on PSN VetMA achievements and leaderboards that there are at least 300k people playing on PS4 alone.

The game as a whole has at least 500k+ active players across the board.

Valerien · December 2015

Customer support here is far better and quicker than most games I've played.

If you want to see bad support go to SWTOR and submit a ticket most take a month to get answered and there is a good chance they will tell you its a known bug and deal with it.

kongkim · December 2015

And here come all the doomsayers.

JD2013 · December 2015

kongkim wrote: »

And here come all the doomsayers.

Standard for these forums.

Sav72 · December 2015

Unfortunately they will lay off more end of 2016 unless they get there S@#$ together, quite of few new MMOs coming out this summer.

kongkim · December 2015

Sav72 wrote: »

Unfortunately they will lay off more end of 2016 unless they get there S@#$ together, quite of few new MMOs coming out this summer.

Yah and all looking like crap :S

DaveMoeDee · December 2015

Christmas is absolutely irrelevant to business decisions.

Did they reduce staff, or are they relocating?

Callous2208 · December 2015

kongkim wrote: »

Sav72 wrote: »

Unfortunately they will lay off more end of 2016 unless they get there S@#$ together, quite of few new MMOs coming out this summer.

Yah and all looking like crap :S

Pretty much, from what I've seen anyway. Not a one has even garnered a second look from me, and I really like to try/play new mmo's as they come out.

nimander99 · December 2015

tinythinker wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

Can't it be that they were hired on a six-month contracts to help with console releases, and the contracts expired? The console release was around six months ago after all.

It's exactly this. Six month contracts which have expired and weren't renewed. Suck for those involved and the time of year is bad, but these aren't really layoffs.

Not all were contract employees...

But on the other side, the Connacht Tribune understands that in the region of 300 full-time and contract employees have been let go from the European Customer Services Centre in Rahoon on the western side of the city.

It is understood that just five or six employees remain at the premises.

It may or may not have to do with tax breaks, but there was this at the end...

An industry source said: “Around half-a-dozen employees remain, to keep things ticking over, but things have been wound down there. It may be the case that things may pick up again if they have another [game] release.”

- - - - - -

In any case ZOS will lock this thread in a heart beat if it takes a turn that belittles or makes light of the employees let go or turns into a ZOS/Bethesda bashing session.

Totally off topic but every time I see you post a well thought out comment or critique I chuckle at your forum handle @tinythinker

tinythinker · December 2015

nimander99 wrote: »

tinythinker wrote: »

Dominoid wrote: »

Abeille wrote: »

Can't it be that they were hired on a six-month contracts to help with console releases, and the contracts expired? The console release was around six months ago after all.

It's exactly this. Six month contracts which have expired and weren't renewed. Suck for those involved and the time of year is bad, but these aren't really layoffs.

Not all were contract employees...

But on the other side, the Connacht Tribune understands that in the region of 300 full-time and contract employees have been let go from the European Customer Services Centre in Rahoon on the western side of the city.

It is understood that just five or six employees remain at the premises.

It may or may not have to do with tax breaks, but there was this at the end...

An industry source said: “Around half-a-dozen employees remain, to keep things ticking over, but things have been wound down there. It may be the case that things may pick up again if they have another [game] release.”

- - - - - -

In any case ZOS will lock this thread in a heart beat if it takes a turn that belittles or makes light of the employees let go or turns into a ZOS/Bethesda bashing session.

Totally off topic but every time I see you post a well thought out comment or critique I chuckle at your forum handle @tinythinker

I amuse you?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWINtUCshxY

Eiagra · December 2015

Quite unfortunate for those affected. But I hope Zenimax has an official response soon, since by the number of soothsayers in this thread it's evident that a number of their player base believe this reflects the GAME'S state of affairs when this appears to be a COMPANY decision.

It doesn't help that ESO is Zenimax Online Studio's only current online offering, so it's easy to draw such conclusions when the company makes a big change like that.

I'm going under the hopes that Zenimax has plans to have support staff located elsewhere, or are otherwise restructuring their support system. Given that a number of players were complaining about canned responses and a lack of help in general from the support team, you can't really say a support restructure is unexpected or even undesired. We will see what the days ahead hold, but again, an official response would help placate the Chicken Littles who believe the sky is falling.

jircris11 · December 2015

Eiagra wrote: »

Quite unfortunate for those affected. But I hope Zenimax has an official response soon, since by the number of soothsayers in this thread it's evident that a number of their player base believe this reflects the GAME'S state of affairs when this appears to be a COMPANY decision.

It doesn't help that ESO is Zenimax Online Studio's only current online offering, so it's easy to draw such conclusions when the company makes a big change like that.

I'm going under the hopes that Zenimax has plans to have support staff located elsewhere, or are otherwise restructuring their support system. Given that a number of players were complaining about canned responses and a lack of help in general from the support team, you can't really say a support restructure is unexpected or even undesired. We will see what the days ahead hold, but again, an official response would help placate the Chicken Littles who believe the sky is falling.

There was an official response from ZoS on this very thread lol. It some quite standard in the CS field, seeing how most are contract workers and not employed directly by the company. I use to work for a call center that handled CS for SoE/Ubisoft and direct TV at the same time (different floors though) and i have seen this happen once the hype dies or the game is running fairly smoothly to where so many are not needed.

p_tsakirisb16_ESO · December 2015

I am working as a contractor. Believe me I do not care if they do not renew my fixed term contract ending on X month.

And always trying not to have any ongoing contract for Christmas. Because January is ALWAYS the best month to be unemployed in UK & Ireland. Is when the market booming for new employment and you can be very picky

As for the people laid off, I believe was last year this happened! Anyhow on this side of the Atlantic, is not USA crap legislation, so they should have had the statutory 4-8 weeks notices and redudancy payments.

Only when companies go bust, the above doesn't happen....

Makkir · December 2015

I must ask...weren't these jobs just temp anyway?

Tandor · December 2015

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

WalkingLegacy wrote: »

zornyan wrote: »

revonine wrote: »

timidobserver wrote: »

Junkogen wrote: »

Right before Christmas? Damn, that's cold.

Though, do the Irish even celebrate Christmas?

Lol yes we celebrate Christmas. But religious? Maybe 20 years ago.

Thought Ireland was quite heavily religious?

Least that's what the few Irish mates I've got have said.

Don't come to england, can't even have Christmas nativity plays in most of our schools....

Don't come to the US nothing is accepted other than the social trending norm. Can't be religious unless it is for the people the whole world is fighting against now.

Huh? I can't walk 2 feet without seeing wreaths and trees and lights. I can't surf through the radio in the car without coming across multiple stations playing Christmas music 24/7. I can't surf the television without coming across multiple channels playing Christmas movies 24/7. It is like a red, white, and green explosion!

Maybe it is because I am in New York, where there is a, "Go big or go home," attitude and everyone is trying to outdo everyone else. But you would have to be deaf, dumb, and blind and locked in your apartment for the last 2 months of the year to not be inundated with Christmas everywhere.

It's the same in the UK.

Greiver · December 2015

JD2013 wrote: »

kongkim wrote: »

And here come all the doomsayers.

Standard for these forums.

Any forum.

Zaldan · December 2015

ZOS_GinaBruno wrote: »

Hi everyone,

Following the successful console launch of The Elder Scrolls Online: Tamriel Unlimited in June, we have a thriving console and PC online community. We adjusted customer support levels in mid-August by reducing staffing by approximately 50 people to reflect the game’s stability and the needs of our players. This is a normal practice. We have been diligently working with the IDA, and the employees affected by this decision since the summer. We are disappointed by the inaccuracies in the report of the Connacht Tribune.

LOL stability? mind you customer support cant help when most problems in this game are down to broken code I guess.

revonine · December 2015

Makkir wrote: »

I must ask...weren't these jobs just temp anyway?

Yeah they we're. But whoever reported it kinda overlooked that critical piece of information. With the death of the Celtic Tiger and recession in full swing job losses are juicy news.

zornyan · December 2015

p_tsakirisb16_ESO wrote: »

I am working as a contractor. Believe me I do not care if they do not renew my fixed term contract ending on X month.

And always trying not to have any ongoing contract for Christmas. Because January is ALWAYS the best month to be unemployed in UK & Ireland. Is when the market booming for new employment and you can be very picky

As for the people laid off, I believe was last year this happened! Anyhow on this side of the Atlantic, is not USA crap legislation, so they should have had the statutory 4-8 weeks notices and redudancy payments.

Only when companies go bust, the above doesn't happen....

Redundancy can be very good if you've been at a certain place for a few years, a while back an IT guy I know had been in the same job for 17 odd years, and they were offering voluntary redundancy.

He was pleased with the payoff, enough to pay his mortgage off and live very well for a few years with no work to worry about.

Lynnessa · December 2015

Saint314Louis1985 wrote: »

terrordactyl1971 wrote: »

Shame they didn't keep that $1million giveaway and use it for salaries to keep staff going.

that 50k per year (or 1million after 20 years) would be enough to keep 1 employee. Maybe 2 at most. They arent even giving it away until next year. I would guess they are expecting the giveaway publicity to bring in more than 50k revenue next year.In big business, 50k is nothing.

Video game customer service reps make 50k a year? Damn.

gw2only1b14_ESO · December 2015

Well blame out sourcing and they still have a small crew in place Oddly once I left the manufacturing world and Entered the customer service world in Management laying off at years end is common place . When i was a Union worker at the Steel Mill happend many times as well usually around or near Holidays

zornyan · December 2015

Lynnessa wrote: »

Saint314Louis1985 wrote: »

terrordactyl1971 wrote: »

Shame they didn't keep that $1million giveaway and use it for salaries to keep staff going.

that 50k per year (or 1million after 20 years) would be enough to keep 1 employee. Maybe 2 at most. They arent even giving it away until next year. I would guess they are expecting the giveaway publicity to bring in more than 50k revenue next year.In big business, 50k is nothing.

Video game customer service reps make 50k a year? Damn.

Was gonna say jebus lol.

Fwiw when my wife was starting out, entry level potions in customerservice are around 15k per year, most people are in a level 3 position after 2 years and earning closer to 20k.