Wargaming didn’t warn Minsk employees about office closure
3 min readWargaming employees were caught by surprise when they learned about the Minsk office closure.
Wargaming, the creator of World of Tanks, World of Warplanes and World of Warships, has announced the closure of their Minsk office at the beginning of April, but the majority of the employees found about the company’s decision on the day.
The Minsk team has reported they were in a “trance” because no one expected the news. Employees received a signed letter from Viktor Kisly, identical to the one posted on the company’s website, announcing the decision to close the office and team leaders would soon start contacting their teams in regards to what comes next.
According to the same source, the closure will take four months and will be done in full compliance with the law. Employees will be offered two options: relocate or dismissal. Relocation will be offered individually to valuable employees, but no information on the criteria of evaluation was provided leaving employees in a “limbo”. Those offered relocation, could also be offered help with costs for visas, flights and accommodation for the first month, plus a bonus on expenses.
If the employee is offered dismissal or doesn’t accept the offer to relocate, Wargaming will also provide compensation and support to all affected by this decision to the maximum extent possible.
In 2020, there were 2,400 workers located in Minsk, insider sources told he believes at least 50% of the employees will be dismissed.
The reason for such a high number of dismissals could be related to several reasons, for example, employees who don’t accept relocation because of family, location or conditions or the fact Wargaming can just re-hire IT experts needed in the new location, making the office relocation process simpler and easier.
What is World of Tanks development future?
The main question that remains unanswered is: how will this affect World of Tanks development? Wargaming has yet to share information if they are continuing their Supertest program in Russia, or if they also plan to move it to the EU, NA or ASIA regions. Since the announcement, almost no new content has entered Supertest, meaning we could face delays in future developments and new content.
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