This is a version of a letter I sent to the senior management team upon handing in my letter of resignation. I never got a reply acknowledging the letter, and so have edited it down and posted it here.
The Treatment of Employees in Their Daily Job Roles
The way that I feel that my co-workers and I were treated since starting employment at this company has been completely unjust. Speaking from my own experiences, I have been insulted on the following by a senior member of staff: my name, my voice, my posture, my hair, my clothes, my stature, my age and my mannerisms. This has naturally become less of an issue after the move to working remotely, but is unacceptable behaviour in the workplace.
Some of the hostility that was directed towards me and my co-workers seemed to stem from inexperienced managers who took our feedback as insults. We have reported issues ranging from proofreading checks to illegal image usage, and yet the majority of our fixes and pieces of advice were discarded.
Issues with the Design Process
Every problem that was brought up or noticed during the development process was turned back onto the development team, which is even more frustrating when the product launches and the public blames the team for the faults which we attempted to fix.
One of the few things I was told during my employment is that ‘one person should never design a game on their own, as they’ll make a game perfect for them that no one else will enjoy’. Despite being told this in my second week, the company continues to take steps that ensure this situation occurs.
Not only have my credits been removed from products I have worked hard on in the past, but I have heard different excuses as to why every time. I heard that ‘there isn’t enough space in the book’, ‘everyone only gets one credit’, ‘the other team wouldn’t appreciate your name being included’ and ‘we don’t pay you at the right level for that job role so it wouldn’t be fair’ all for the same credit in the same product. The fact that I could never get a straight answer as to why this credit was removed can only lead me to a single conclusion: the company did not want to credit me for the work I did.
False Claims and Promises Made During Interview Process and Employment
I was repeatedly told that career progression would be quick and have varying paths to choose from. Since then, the only career advancement options I have heard spoken about are the ones that my team have suggested ourselves, and they seem to have stagnated. Any additional duties I took on led to no recognition, no progression and backlash from others inside of the company.
I was told very enthusiastically in my interview that the company would be investing in my future and helping my technical and creative skills develop. Over the years I worked there, I cannot remember a single occasion when Modiphius invested in training. At the start, I even had to pay to play the games I was working on in my free time.
Salary promises - I was told in my interview that after my probation period, I would be placed on a low salary and get a raise after a year of working here. Despite my enquiries, I nor any member of my team reached the post-probation pay after two years of working full time. The consensus by the senior management team seems to be that unless we have emails proving that this was said, they will not be keeping their promises. The employee should not be charged with collecting evidence throughout employment for use against management when they lie about promises they have previously made.
