Activision Blizzard rejected a shareholder proposal that would increase diversity in job seeker pools, as this would undermine their ability to hire talented individuals and would be superfluous.
Vice had previously reported on January 27 that the video game holding company had rejected by the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO) in January 2021. This proposal was aimed at both Activision Blizzard and Electronic Arts (EA) ; both companies of which AFL-CIO are shareholders.
The reported policy proposal was sent to the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), proposing the adoption of policies that would require qualified women and people of color in the initial set of candidates for positions. This was compared to the NFL’s Rooney Rule, added in 2003.
The AFL-CIO said that the policy would improve diversity in companies, which in turn would increase the company’s performance in the long run.
“[The policy will improve] diversity of the workforce, requiring that the initial group of candidates from which new employees are hired by the Company include, but need not be limited to, qualified women and minority candidates. “
“The purpose of the Diverse Candidate Search Policy requested is to ensure that the Company’s recruitment pools for external hiring are suitably diversified. A diverse workforce at all levels of a company can improve the company’s performance in the long run. “
The proposal letters were obtained from Vice’s Motherboard, along with a response from Activision Blizzard’s lawyers. They stated that they already had this proposal in place for the appointed director and CEO positions, and implementing it across the company would undermine their ability to hire talented people competitively.
In addition, they argued that the proposal would violate SEC guidelines as it significantly “Micromanage” Activision Blizzard.
“Although the company has implemented a Rooney rule policy as envisaged [for director and CEO nominees], implementing a policy that would extend such an approach to all hiring decisions is tantamount to an impractical usurpation of the company’s ability to manage its business and compete for talent in a highly competitive and dynamic market. “
[…] “The Proposal leaves no room for the Company’s management or the Board of Directors to exercise discretion over how the new hiring decisions are structured.”
Speaking to Vice, an Activision Blizzard spokesman said that despite this response, they value diversity at the company. In addition, they already had a number of initiatives and scholarship programs for just that purpose.
“Our talent is the lifeblood of Activision Blizzard. We value the diversity of the Activision Blizzard community and understand that our employees and players come from a wide variety of backgrounds. To deliver epic and engaging entertainment to a diverse and growing global audience, our workforce must reflect these communities. “
“We have implemented a number of new programs, such as our scholarship programs with the United Negro College Fund and the Equal Justice Initiative,” continued the spokesman. “These high school scholarship funds help to develop the best and brightest diverse talent in the future, creating them with mentors and internships designed to ensure early success in their careers.”
An EA spokesman told Vice that they are “In regular conversations with our shareholders and we value the feedback we receive. In accordance with our standard procedures, EA’s Board of Directors will consider the shareholder’s proposal. The Board is committed to maintaining hiring practices that promote inclusion and diversity in EA. “
Brandon Rees, chief investment officer at AFL-CIO, explained to Vice that shareholders will normally submit a proposal and discuss the matter with the company. The proposal can be withdrawn if the company agrees to take steps to resolve what the proposal wants to implement. If it is rejected, shareholders will vote to implement the proposal.
On January 28, Activision Blizzard President Daniel Alegre posted a public statement on the Activision Blizzard website entitled “Building an Equitable, Inclusive and Diverse Activison Blizzard Community.”
In it, Alegre explained that he joined the company not only to “Help connect people around the world through epic games;” but it was inspired by CEO Bobby Kotick’s “Commitment to diversity in our global teams and the opportunity to continue to build a culture of inclusion.”
Addressing the media coverage of the AFL-CIO proposal and wishing to provide clarity and context, Alegre explained how Activision Blizzard already seeks to hire with diversity in mind.
“In our current hiring practices across the company and for each role, we emphasize and create multiple candidate lists; our practices naturally allow hiring managers to ensure diversity within each country in which we operate. We don’t need the AFL-CIO proposal to reaffirm what we already do – encourage each hiring manager to consider multiple candidates for each position. We believe in our existing hiring practices, which encourages each hiring manager to look for multiple candidates for each role. We also ensure that any candidate – regardless of origin, ethnicity, gender, race and sexual orientation – is considered for each open position. We have and will continue to focus on clear goals and measurable diversity criteria in our workforce and we are proud of our success. We are unequivocally committed to increasing diversity at all levels of Activision Blizzard around the world.
I want to reiterate that diversity, equity and inclusion will continue to be at the center of our company, culture and employee experience. Our commitment starts with the sourcing and recruitment process and is reiterated during integration and through the status of alumni. Our Code of Conduct is recognized by all employees – at all levels – every year. New hires must take our Way2Play training and our Equality and Diversity training to ensure that employees understand their responsibility.
Today, in fact, we have been recognized by the Human Rights Campaign with a perfect score on the Corporate Equality Index for inclusive LGBTQ policies and work practices for the third consecutive year, an achievement worth celebrating.
Our games change stereotypes and bring people together, regardless of race, religion or cultural values. But, we can only achieve this if our own talent really represents the diversity of our nearly 400 million players worldwide. We know that all companies can do more to encourage diversity, inclusion and equity, but I am proud of our commitment to constant improvement and the commitment that we all have across the company to promoting a diverse and equitable workplace. I am here because of this commitment, which is unshakable. “