Santa Comes to Warhammer Workers
Games Workshop has shared a generous Christmas bonus with its employees this year. The company has sent a check for a £2,500 (about $3,200)cash bonus to over 2,700 workers and auxiliary staff. The studio is renowned for its profit share program even though it has been less in previous years.
2023 has been a year of economic difficulties. We’ve seen countless layoffs this year, particularly in the game and tech industries. Among the companies that have laid off people are Embracer, Intel, Amazon, Bungie, Unity, Epic Games, and more. Many games have shut down for the same reasons, while others have merged or converted into free-to-play ventures.
Although the number of job losses in other industries is difficult to estimate, it is estimated that over 6,000 positions have been eliminated in 2023 in the game industry alone.
“Under our profit share scheme, we are paying £2,500 in cash to each employee in December (2023/24: £7.5 million; 2022/23: £4.5 million) to reward their contribution to our performance,” Games Workshop said in its half-year trading update.
Another popular tabletop company, Hasbro, recently laid off 1,100 employees, around 20% of its workforce. Games Workshop’s present doesn’t mean it won’t let go of workers in the future. However, the company has shown no indications that it has such plans.
At the same time, Games Workshop is celebrating the actualization of its TV deal with retailer giant Amazon. The company agreed to create movies and TV series using the Warhammer 40K universe as well as its fantasy universe.
However, this tide of layoffs has made it refreshing to see a studio give employees sizeable cash bonuses. Games Workshop gave its workers £2,500 (about $3,200) for Christmas after seeing its half-year profits increase by 12%. The studio has been a stable place of work over the years with workers looking forward to participating in the company’s profits. It is time other studios and industry giants, who make larger profits than Warhammer, join the show.
