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They won’t automatically know, but: 1) Anyone in the industry presumably knows about this news. If someone’s end date at Activision Blizzard is January 2022, t

They won’t automatically know, but: 1) Anyone in the industry presumably knows about this news. If someone’s end date at Activision Blizzard is January 2022, they’re going to have a strong suspicion. 2) Backchannel reference checks (very warranted in this case) will likely confirm it. Activision Blizzard wouldn’t confirm anything other than start and end dates and any candidate-provided references are going to say good things, so it’s important to network and ask somebody who worked there at the time.

doktorhladnjak 5y ago
A lot of companies will also say if the former employee is eligible to be employed there again. A negative on that plus a January separation date won't look good for those folks.
- tablespoon 5y ago
  > A lot of companies will also say if the former employee is eligible to be employed there again. A negative on that plus a January separation date won't look good for those folks. I suppose that may mean something if you're playing detective with a former Blizzard employee's resume, but I'd be cautious in reading too much into "if the former employee is eligible to be employed there again" generally. I know of a company where HR policy is that all involuntary separations are ineligible for rehire, including things like downsizing layoffs.
  - awb 5y ago
    Why would you be ineligible for rehire after a downsizing?
    - barkingcat 5y ago
      You'd be surprised at the kinds of hr policies that makes their own sense, but has no common sense. Most likely to avoid someone returning on false pretenses to retaliate against being downsized in the firstplace.
      - Gibbon1 5y ago
        Yeah that's the sort of policy a sociopath would think is a good idea.
        deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
    - nohr 5y ago
      Because someone made a shitty policy.
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      Presumably for the same reason that, after sleeping with your friend's wife, you wouldn't try to make friends again.
    - ketralnis 5y ago
      Maybe because when downsizing you pick the lowest performers that for whatever reason you haven't already fired
      - tablespoon 5y ago
        > Maybe because when downsizing you pick the lowest performers that for whatever reason you haven't already fired "Lowest performers" doesn't imply bad performers (e.g. a strong team of A & B players). Also downsizing can happen in different ways. For instance: "we're closing this whole site and laying off everyone who works there," or "this project failed [due to bad leadership], so we're laying off the whole team."
      - thaumasiotes 5y ago
        There was an interesting comment on HN a while ago to the effect that "I have personally seen one team laid off and another kept, while everyone agreed that the laid-off team was performing better, because the rent on the building they were in was more expensive".
TechBro8615 5y ago
You're probably overestimating the degree to which a hiring manager investigates a candidate, or even cares that a candidate was caught up in what appears to be a mostly political event (as far as we know from public information). Do you keep track of the month and year of every corporate scandal, and compare it to the resume of all applicants? Or do you just say "oh, you worked at Blizzard huh, do you play WoW?"
- awb 5y ago
  Right, but if there’s an applicant from Activision in the next month or so that didn’t leave voluntarily, then it might warrant further inquiry. Presumably some of these folks will need to try to find work ASAP. But months or years down the road chances are slim it’ll stick out.
  - bluefirebrand 5y ago
    > that didn’t leave voluntarily How would you know this? I sure as heck have never volunteered information like that.
    - awb 5y ago
      Most interviewers ask some version of “why did you leave?” or “did you leave voluntarily?” Not sure what the repercussions are of simply lying to the interviewer though.
- alisonkisk 5y ago
Fnoord 5y ago
> 1) Anyone in the industry presumably knows about this news. If someone’s end date at Activision Blizzard is January 2022, they’re going to have a strong suspicion. The first sentence of the article mentions: > Activision Blizzard Inc. has fired or pushed out more than three dozen employees and disciplined about 40 others since July as part of efforts to address allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct at the videogame giant, according to people familiar with the situation. (Emphasis mine.) For those who more closely follow Blizzard and/or WoW news (fansites such as MMO Champion and Wowhead), several people were known to be fired or left the past year. So the date January 2022 is entirely arbitrary by you, but also, important to note the following: some people left because of the scandal while they were not the culprit, or other reasons (many people were laid off because of, well, I can't say bad financial result but that was the reasoning. Also, state of games in decline). Just because someone left Blizz in 2021 does not mean much, but if you look into certain people who did leave in 2021 then, yes, you will find allegations. End date alone is meaningless though, and quite frankly falls under the definition of guilty by association.
- shultays 5y ago
  I guess one has to ensure that they don't leave a company the same time such firings happens

doktorhladnjak 5y ago

A lot of companies will also say if the former employee is eligible to be employed there again. A negative on that plus a January separation date won't look good for those folks.

tablespoon 5y ago
> A lot of companies will also say if the former employee is eligible to be employed there again. A negative on that plus a January separation date won't look good for those folks. I suppose that may mean something if you're playing detective with a former Blizzard employee's resume, but I'd be cautious in reading too much into "if the former employee is eligible to be employed there again" generally. I know of a company where HR policy is that all involuntary separations are ineligible for rehire, including things like downsizing layoffs.
- awb 5y ago
  Why would you be ineligible for rehire after a downsizing?
  - barkingcat 5y ago
    You'd be surprised at the kinds of hr policies that makes their own sense, but has no common sense. Most likely to avoid someone returning on false pretenses to retaliate against being downsized in the firstplace.
    - Gibbon1 5y ago
      Yeah that's the sort of policy a sociopath would think is a good idea.
      - deleted 5y ago
        [deleted]
  - nohr 5y ago
    Because someone made a shitty policy.
  - thaumasiotes 5y ago
    Presumably for the same reason that, after sleeping with your friend's wife, you wouldn't try to make friends again.
  - ketralnis 5y ago
    Maybe because when downsizing you pick the lowest performers that for whatever reason you haven't already fired
    - tablespoon 5y ago
      > Maybe because when downsizing you pick the lowest performers that for whatever reason you haven't already fired "Lowest performers" doesn't imply bad performers (e.g. a strong team of A & B players). Also downsizing can happen in different ways. For instance: "we're closing this whole site and laying off everyone who works there," or "this project failed [due to bad leadership], so we're laying off the whole team."
    - thaumasiotes 5y ago
      There was an interesting comment on HN a while ago to the effect that "I have personally seen one team laid off and another kept, while everyone agreed that the laid-off team was performing better, because the rent on the building they were in was more expensive".

TechBro8615 5y ago

You're probably overestimating the degree to which a hiring manager investigates a candidate, or even cares that a candidate was caught up in what appears to be a mostly political event (as far as we know from public information). Do you keep track of the month and year of every corporate scandal, and compare it to the resume of all applicants? Or do you just say "oh, you worked at Blizzard huh, do you play WoW?"

awb 5y ago
Right, but if there’s an applicant from Activision in the next month or so that didn’t leave voluntarily, then it might warrant further inquiry. Presumably some of these folks will need to try to find work ASAP. But months or years down the road chances are slim it’ll stick out.
- bluefirebrand 5y ago
  > that didn’t leave voluntarily How would you know this? I sure as heck have never volunteered information like that.
  - awb 5y ago
    Most interviewers ask some version of “why did you leave?” or “did you leave voluntarily?” Not sure what the repercussions are of simply lying to the interviewer though.
alisonkisk 5y ago

Fnoord 5y ago

> 1) Anyone in the industry presumably knows about this news. If someone’s end date at Activision Blizzard is January 2022, they’re going to have a strong suspicion. The first sentence of the article mentions: > Activision Blizzard Inc. has fired or pushed out more than three dozen employees and disciplined about 40 others since July as part of efforts to address allegations of sexual harassment and other misconduct at the videogame giant, according to people familiar with the situation. (Emphasis mine.) For those who more closely follow Blizzard and/or WoW news (fansites such as MMO Champion and Wowhead), several people were known to be fired or left the past year. So the date January 2022 is entirely arbitrary by you, but also, important to note the following: some people left because of the scandal while they were not the culprit, or other reasons (many people were laid off because of, well, I can't say bad financial result but that was the reasoning. Also, state of games in decline). Just because someone left Blizz in 2021 does not mean much, but if you look into certain people who did leave in 2021 then, yes, you will find allegations. End date alone is meaningless though, and quite frankly falls under the definition of guilty by association.

shultays 5y ago
I guess one has to ensure that they don't leave a company the same time such firings happens