Videogame company behind Candy Crush to lay off 47 employees in Barcelona
Union says layoffs have been going on since Microsoft bought the company in October last year
Video game company King, creator of the hit game Candy Crush, plans to lay off 47 employees at its Barcelona offices, more than 7% of its workforce.
The company was taken over by tech giant Microsoft last October, when, according to the CGT union, the layoffs began.
The union denounces that the company wants to "dismantle entire departments" of King's operations in Barcelona and subcontract the work to other companies within the group.
"The jobs, far from disappearing, will be transferred to subcontractors or other offices within the group, which makes this dismissal a disguised relocation operation," CGT said.
According to the union, workers in these departments have been forced to train their replacements, who are subcontracted from countries such as India, the union reported.
To protest the layoffs, workers and CGT union members staged a protest outside King's offices in Barcelona on Tuesday morning.
So far this year, Microsoft has laid off 2,500 workers worldwide, part of its plan to reduce the workforce in the video games division, CGT said.
But despite the layoffs, Candy Crush Saga continues to post record profits. Last year, the popular game surpassed $20 billion in total revenue since its launch in 2012.
The Activision Blizzard King group contributes $2 billion in profits to Microsoft, representing nearly 30% of the total revenue generated by the tech giant's gaming division.