Paradox Interactive is not doing well with the corporate culture. An independent audit showed that the company has a toxic atmosphere, and employees face discrimination and harassment. The Swedish publisher has already acknowledged “obvious problems” and assured that he will take the necessary measures.
Empire of Sin
Recall that the first statements that Paradox Interactive has problems with the working environment appeared last fall.
In September, an internal survey surfaced, according to which 44% of the company’s employees had experienced “abuse.” Soon the executive director of the publishing house Fredrik Wester (Fredrik Wester) admitted that he himself did not always behave correctly. He apologized for inappropriate behavior in 2018, but dispensed with details. Also in October, several former and current employees of Paradox Interactive complained about the toxic atmosphere and harassment.
After that, the publisher turned to the independent firm Gender Balance and asked to conduct an audit to find out if everything is really so bad in the company.
What Gender Balance found
- There were cases of sexual harassment at Paradox Interactive, but “there were fewer of them than there could be in a company of this size.” Due to the delicate nature of the problem, Gender Balance did not describe exactly what was happening.
- Much more often, employees have heard offensive or incorrect statements addressed to them. They often concerned women. For example, female employees complained that they often received unsolicited compliments or comments about their appearance, and colleagues also questioned their professionalism.
- Several women reported that they try not to work with some colleagues and are forced to advertise their relationships in order to avoid harassment.
- The company also has discrimination based on ethnicity, but it is not as pronounced as gender discrimination.
- Many Paradox Interactive employees stated that the HR department and management preferred to ignore or even criticize their complaints. Dissatisfied people were reprimanded for deciding to tell about the problem and accused of not allowing them to work quietly.
Despite the fact that the company found “obvious problems”, Gender Balance believes that they are not commonplace for Paradox Interactive and occur relatively rarely. In addition, none of the violations were serious enough to go to the police or fire anyone.
The full Gender Balance report can be read here.
Paradox Interactive has already prepared a list of measures that it intends to take to rectify the situation. For example, she is going to completely revise the policy on harassment and discrimination. In addition, all employees, including top management, will have to take special courses where they will be told what to do in such cases.
Paradox Interactive is not the first gaming company to be accused of creating a toxic environment. One of the most high-profile recent scandals is related to Activision Blizzard, which was sued by the authorities of the state of California, among others.