Electronic Arts are laying off 6% of employees in a new "restructuring"

Electronic Arts has become the latest tech company to suffer mass layoffs. Today the publisher announced a new “restructuring” which will impact roughly 6% of their total workforce, or over 700 employees if an SEC filing from March 2022 is any estimate.

In an announcement to employees, made available on EA’s website, CEO Andrew Wilson says: “As we drive greater focus across our portfolio, we are moving away from projects that do not contribute to our strategy, reviewing our real estate footprint, and restructuring some of our teams.”

He continues: “These decisions are expected to impact approximately six percent of our company’s workforce.” Wilson added that they were “providing opportunities for our colleagues to transition onto other projects” where possible, and offering severance pay and other benefits if not.

Wilson began his announcement by boasting of EA’s strong recent commercial performance. “Even amidst macro uncertainty, EA is operating from a position of strength,” Wilson continues. “Our business is gaining momentum as we continue to deliver high quality games and amazing content across some of the largest, most beloved franchises in the world.” He then points to the series’ record success of FIFA 23, alongside continued performance for Apex Legends and The Sims 4.

Earlier this month, EA abruptly laid off 200 QA testers who were primarily working on Apex Legends, as the company looked to decentralise testing for the battle royale. The company also reportedly cancelled a single-player shooter in the Titanfall/Apex Legends universe earlier this year, for unknown reasons. Perhaps it was one of the projects that didn’t “contribute” to EA's strategy.

EA are one of many tech companies that have recently reduced their workforce along with Riot Games, Amazon (affecting 400 Twitch employees), and Microsoft, whose layoffs are said to impact 10,000 employees, including those at Bethesda Game Studios and 343 Industries.