ESL has confirmed to Slingshot Esports that a total of five percent of its global workforce will leave the company as it looks to “realign resources and expand the organisation to drive innovation”.
The report from Jarek “DeKay” Lewis on Slingshot suggests 15-20 employees from the States have had their contracts terminated with immediate effect. Those effected will receive severance pay. It differs slightly from ESL’s European counterparts who will remain in a job until the end of September.
An ESL spokesperson told Slingshot: “ESL is realigning resources and expanding its organisation to drive innovation in the esports market, including creating opportunities in original programming, strengthening in-game capabilities, and expanding our brand globally. As part of that process, 5 percent of the global workforce, largely from our event operations and executive TV production, will be leaving the company. At the same time, the same number of positions will be created in these areas of expansion. This reflects an adjustment of our internal organisation and is a step towards preparing ESL for additional growth opportunities.”
The emphasis from ESL is clearly upon the fact that they’re focusing on a realignment and subsequent expansion. The indication that the five percent of jobs cut will subsequently be reopened is an interesting one, although thus far there’s no information as to how the expansion will manifest itself and where the new jobs will lie.
Currently ESL One Cologne, a $250,000 (£192,875) Counter-Strike: Global Offensive tournament is taking place in Germany. 16 top teams are competing with the Group Stages currently being shown on Twitch before the main event gets underway tomorrow at the Lanxess Arena.
Esports Insider says: Sad to hear about the job losses and best wishes for those who will be moving on to pastures new. At the same time, there’s a big emphasis on expansion and realignment so we’re excited to see what’s next for ESL.
