GameStop Cancels Employee Contest to Earn Extra Black Friday Work Hours

GameStop has reportedly canceled a company-wide contest that asked employees to perform a synchronized TikTok dance in exchange for prizes like extra work hours on Black Friday. Originally reported by TheGamer, news broke on November 3 that GameStop had announced a TikTok competition across its stores that tasked employees with performing a synchronized dance with their coworkers in exchange for a prize. The prize included an Amazon Echo 8, an Amazon Echo Auto, a $100 VISA gift card, and 10 extra work hours on Black Friday. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=gamestop-in-the-news-timeline&captions=true"] "The winner of the challenge will receive an Echo 8, Echo Auto, $100 VISA gift card and 10 additional labor hours to use during Black Friday week," the competition's announcement post from GameStop reads, according to TheGamer. "Imagine what you could do with all those prizes." Yes, imagine what you could do with all those prizes, like work ten extra hours during one of the most stressful weeks in customer service and retail all while a global pandemic is happening. The announcement was originally posted on GameStop's conference portal but has since been removed, as discovered by TheGamer, likely due to the backlash the competition received. The GameStop subreddit was quickly filled with dozens of posts about this competition, with one post, in particular, receiving over 100 comments ranging from "eww" to "new form of low." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/03/07/how-gamestop-plans-to-save-itself"] While the competition's announcement post has been removed, GameStop hasn't formally announced anything regarding a cancellation. IGN reached out to GameStop for clarification but haven't heard back. This isn't the first time GameStop has received backlash for its treatment of employees. Earlier this year, the company said it was an "essential business" and required employees to work during the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. It eventually closed its stores when it switched to curbside service in March. On top of the backlash the company is facing over this competition, the company recently announced that it was closing around 400 stores this year. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

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