HUNT VALLEY, MD — Microsoft gaming employees in Hunt Valley are pushing back against a round of layoffs that the company says will eliminate 4,800 jobs, including 3,200 in its Xbox division. Workers at Microsoft-owned ZeniMax gathered outside the building Tuesday to protest the cuts as the clock runs down on the last days for some of them.

One affected employee, ZeniMax web content editor Jordan Goldfarb, said the job market is difficult right now and described the situation as rough. The employees involved are being paid through Sept. 6, which is their last day, according to the report from WMAR-2 News Baltimore.

Company Explains Cuts

Microsoft outlined the layoffs in a blog post from Executive Vice President Amy Coleman, who said the company’s business is changing and that it needs to adjust resources, roles and operations to match shifts in technology and customer needs. She said the work itself has to transform as the industry changes faster than at any point in her time with the company.

Xbox Chief Executive Asha Sharma said the division is not healthy and argued that its margins are much lower than comparable platform and publishing businesses. In comments cited by WMAR-2 News, Sharma said the company entered the current generation with a smaller install base and a higher cost structure, and that it must reset Xbox.

Union Challenges Process

The Communications Workers of America, which represents the gaming employees, filed unfair labor practice charges with the National Labor Relations Board. The union says Microsoft did not engage in required decisional bargaining before making changes of this size, and it argues that those status quo protections were violated.

Goldfarb and other workers questioned the company’s justification for the cuts, pointing to Microsoft’s overall revenue and executive pay. In their view, the company has the money to keep the teams in place. Microsoft, for its part, said it respects employees’ right to speak out and is continuing to bargain in good faith with the union.

What Workers Face Next

For now, the immediate focus is on the bargaining table and the final days before the Sept. 6 cutoff for affected employees. The union says it wants negotiations to continue long enough to improve the outcome for workers, including severance and other terms tied to the transition.

Anyone following the dispute can check for updates from Microsoft, Xbox, the Communications Workers of America and the National Labor Relations Board. The issue is now part workplace dispute, part legal complaint, and the next developments will likely come from negotiations or the federal labor process.

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