EA might be hated, but not by its diverse staff

The gaming industry often gets a lot of flak for not being a gender neutral workplace and alongside that negative comparison, EA games has been similarly voted the worst company of the year several years in a row based on online voting, so it's somewhat of a surprise to hear that EA received a perfect score on its workplace equality rating. And this is for the second year running.

This comes out of the Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index, which has rated EA Games as one of the best places to work in the world. The study takes into consideration internal policies and the management structure of giant corporations and twice in a row now EA has been given 100 per cent.

Got to give it to EA. It might have turned PopCap and other studio's IPs into a money machine, but it's all inclusive

Much of this was to do with EA's Diversity and Inclusion Team, which while sounding like a sitcom creation, is a real team that has helped promote gender and sexual equality in the workplace by taking part in local gay pride parades in different EA offices around the world and even hosting its own event to highlight some of the issues faced by people who identify as lesbian, gay, bisexual and trangender (LGBT) in the gaming industry. [yframe url='http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aUNdbgVdGEg#t=24′]

The Human Rights foundation was also impressed by EA's work with charity. When it twinned with Humble Bundle earlier this year to offer many of its Origin enabled games (so there was some benefit for the publisher), all the proceeds went to charity, which ultimately raised over $10.5 million over just a couple of weeks.

“We’re very proud that EA has been named a ‘Best Place to Work’ by HRC again this year and that our organization has been recognized for providing a workplace that is inclusive and where everyone feels welcome,” said Andre Chambers, head of Diversity & Inclusion at EA. “We look forward to continuing that tradition in 2014.”

KitGuru Says: This is a really smart move by EA. While it might not have the best reputation with gamers for its business practices, with the current climate of women and differing sexualities struggling to find acceptance in the industry, they're likely to flock to a business that offers acceptance, meaning EA could be poised to see a big uptake in highly talented gay and female developers in the future, without needing to compete with as many other businesses for their applications.

[Cheers GamesIndustry] 

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