The money doesn’t lie. EA’s latest financial quarter saw a nasty jump in losses compared with last year; it now stands at $310 million.
The publishers response was to enacted their ”cost reduction plan”, which is fancy wording for workforce ”elimination”. This plan booted out 6% of staff which is about 600 jobs.
600 jobs = $50 million. The money doesn’t lie. ”Considering the slow down at retail we’ve seen in October, we are cautious in the short term,” said CEO John Riccitiello.
”Longer term, we are very bullish on the game sector overall and on EA in particular. The industry is growing double-digits on the strength of three new game consoles and increases in the number of homes with broadband internet connections.”
This also means there won’t be many new positions opening within the company for a while as they ‘trim the fat’. Let’s hope this short term strategy will help many more keep their jobs in the long term Mr Riccitiello.
Any news of a voluntary cut to executive salaries? No? That’s odd.