Ubisoft hopes 200 employees at its Paris HQ will agree to quit so it doesn't have to lay them off the regular way

A week after Ubisoft announced a major restructuring that included multiple game cancellations and delays, and a warning that it will "selectively close several studios," the company is now looking to eliminate 200 employees at its headquarters in Paris.

"In line with last week's announcements on its new operating model and the acceleration of cost-reduction initiatives, Ubisoft International has initiated discussions regarding a potential Rupture Conventionnelle Collective, a collective, voluntary mutual termination agreement that could involve up to 200 positions at its headquarters in France," a Ubisoft spokesperson told IGN.

"At this stage, this remains a proposal, and no decision will be final until a collective agreement is reached with employee representatives and validated by French authorities. The proposal applies exclusively to Ubisoft International employees under French contracts and has no impact on other French entities or Ubisoft teams worldwide."

France's Ministry of Labor and Solidarity (Google translated) says the Rupture Conventionnelle Collective "may provide for a collective negotiated termination in order to terminate employment contracts on a voluntary basis without resorting to redundancy for economic reasons." It also places specific commitments on companies using the agreement—in this case, Ubisoft—including things like the maximum number of job cuts, the types of support displaced employees will be given, and termination pay.

But while the cuts that come via this agreement would be voluntary, the obvious question is what will happen if an agreement can't be reached, or fails to achieve the desired goals. The report says roughly 1,100 people are currently employed at Ubisoft's Paris offices, meaning Ubisoft is looking at ditching nearly 20% of its staff—that's a massive cut by any measure, and particularly so when you're asking people to give up jobs they may have held for years and greatly enjoy. (And particularly particularly so when those jobs are in an industry that's been roiled by instability for years, and shows no sign of getting better anytime soon.)

That scenario played out recently at Ubisoft Massive, where employees were offered a "voluntary career transition program" including "financial and career assistance" for eligible employees who agreed to pack up and leave. When an insufficient number of employees chose to bite, Ubisoft imposed conventional layoffs, eliminating roughly 55 positions at Massive and Ubisoft Stockholm. A week later it closed the Stockholm studio outright, despite saying when the layoffs were announced that the cuts would not impact its "long-term direction."

In a statement provided to PC Gamer, a representative for the Solidaires Informatique union that called for a half-day strike over last week's announcement said it's not involved in the Rupture Conventionnelle Collective because it doesn't have a presence at Ubisoft's headquarters. Nonetheless, the union does have thoughts on the matter.

"Rupture Conventionnelle Collective is a process that offers people a severance package in exchange for voluntarily leaving the company. Here, the proposal comes less than a week after announcing to people that their working conditions will be degraded next year," the rep said. "For some people, it is an offer they can't refuse. Solidaires finds these practices absolutely disgusting."