In Retrospect: Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts

[Gamernyc78]

Nintendo CEO’s refusal to layoff staff goes viral following industry-wide cuts

"If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease"

www.nme.com

I remember this...


Following a large number of layoffs across the gaming sector, fans have been sharing the outlook of former Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata.

Iwata was president of Nintendo from 2002 until his death in 2015 and oversaw both the Nintendo DS and the Wii.

However, he was also CEO during the turbulent Wii U era of Nintendo, which was considered a flop by many. Following the failure, he took a 50 per cent pay cut while other executives reduced their salaries by 20 per cent.

Speaking about the decision in 2013, Iwata said: “If we reduce the number of employees for better short-term financial results, employee morale will decrease. I sincerely doubt employees who fear that they may be laid off will be able to develop software titles that could impress people around the world.”

“At Nintendo, employees make valuable contributions in their respective fields, so I believe that laying off a group of employees will not help to strengthen Nintendo’s business in the long run,” he added.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Definitely a different culture in terms of how to handle employees and budget defits in both companies.

 

[Kokoloko]

Well done to him.

Lol MS has the money not to cut these employees.
Don't expect anything like that from them, Phil and Nutella spread are slimeballs to the core

 

[Box]

Problem is investors don't pay attention to how different industries work such as entertainment is quite different then that and when they see losses in 1 company they don't look as to why it happened like they put out a s*** game, but go OHH NO WE MIGHT LOSE MONEY FIRE PPL. Then you also have to add in on top of that most CEO's (especially the ones hired outside. Ones promoted internally generally aren't like this) are there for short term payouts, and firing ppl does that for them. This is generally unlike privately owned businesses where they don't have investors, and actually care about the growth, and longevity of the company. I had to add generally as the place I used to work was privately owned, and the son who took it over started slashing jobs to make a little more profit, and sold off s*** left and right

 

[Gamernyc78]

Well done to him.

Lol MS has the money not to cut these employees.
Don't expect anything like that from them, Phil and Nutella spread are slimeballs to the core

Yeah it is definitely respectable and says alot about diff company cultures. In my job when we had budget cuts instead of cutting some ppl at the time, we all went on what's called "shared work" and we all lost 20% of our pay but it all worked out because six months later we were fine and maintained all our staff.

I mean we all know how cut throat corporate culture is but it's good to see the comparison and that not all are as cutthroat as others. Of course it's all about a bottom line, thts self explanatory.

 

[Darth Vader]

Terrible, they should have got rid of the fat, their business would be much better nowadays.

 

[Gamernyc78]

There profit margins have been better than any other Gane company so it's great they gave back in this way.

 

[Nhomnhom]

MS is pure shit, absolutely no class, no culture, no decency, just pure greed and corruption.

 

[Gamernyc78]

MS is pure shit, absolutely no class, no culture, no decency, just pure greed and corruption.

Most corps are (as you well know) but it's good to see all aren't.

 

[Nhomnhom]

Most corps are (as you well know) but it's good to see all aren't.

Just because most (if not all) are shit, it doesn't mean MS ain't worse.

Nintendo is far from perfect, but it pretty obvious they at least have some sort of creative vision for what their products should be. MS/Xbox only cares about imposing the business model that benefits them the most and we can see it reflected in their shitty games and products.

 

[Yurinka]

Nintendo has a great PR and a ton of people licking their asses. A ton of gaming CEOs reject bonuses, reduce their salary or even don't get salary to don't fire or reduce firings of their companies, I know many cases mostly from indie, small or mid companies. But they don't tell it in interviews (as an examples, I've been in both sides).

And yes, like every other company Nintendo also fires people. The difference is that when a couple of them say it in social media or LinkedIn the gaming press and 'insiders' don't go to claim they had massive layoffs.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Just because most (if not all) are shit, it doesn't mean MS ain't worse.

Nintendo is far from perfect, but it pretty obvious they at least have some sort of creative vision for what their products should be. MS/Xbox only cares about imposing the business model that benefits them the most and we can see it reflected in their shitty games and products.

OH I never said tht they weren't. lol how long have we all been on this forum? Awhile, you should know where alot of ppl stand by now on Microsoft. Microsoft is one of the biggest corps in the world along with tht comes alot of shiting on ppl, tht goes without saying.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

Definitely a different culture in terms of how to handle employees and budget defits in both companies.

Japanese companies in general turn to firings as a last resort. Speaking of Nintendo, I remember when the Virtual Boy creator was assigned to another role in the company, rather than getting fired. At an American company he'd of probably been kicked out before the system even launched. Although, some would say that him being retained was its own punishment in a way (his new role was basically a heavy demotion).

Also reminds me: the Lenovo CEO did a similar thing years ago in taking a pay cut vs. firing employees when fiscal results didn't look too hot. I'm just willing to venture many Asian tech businesses in general place more value in employee morale and turn to firings as a last resort. At many, they'd rather demote if such has to be done, and start from the top working their way down.

As it should be.

Nintendo has a great PR and a ton of people licking their asses. A ton of gaming CEOs reject bonuses, reduce their salary or even don't get salary to don't fire or reduce firings of their companies, I know many cases mostly from indie, small or mid companies. But they don't tell it in interviews (as an examples, I've been in both sides).

And yes, like every other company Nintendo also fires people. The difference is that when a couple of them say it in social media or LinkedIn the gaming press and 'insiders' don't go to claim they had massive layoffs.

Nintendo isn't a $3 trillion Big Tech mega-conglomerate who just completed the single largest valued M&A in gaming history. Also yes some gaming CEOs reduce their salaries or scale back on firings, and yes Nintendo does fire people. But you're missing the larger context.

That being, companies like Nintendo are larger than most other gaming companies, are a platform holder, and handle communication & processes of firings significantly better than a company like Microsoft, or Embracer Group. They don't fire employees nearly as frequently as those companies (or most gaming companies), and don't fire as many relative their total workforce as them (or most gaming companies). Companies like Nintendo are more an exception in the industry when it comes to responsibly handling employee firings, and as a platform holder that's going to get them more attention than a random 3P publisher or studio who do the same (or do it even better).

Point is, if companies like Nintendo can set a good example on how to handle this type of stuff, being one of the Big 3, then why can't a company significantly larger than them in valuation, resources etc. like Microsoft, do similar? Is it a corporate culture thing and is that influenced by one being a Japanese company and the other an American company? Who knows. But, maybe others in the industry can see how companies like Nintendo do it and improve their own means of handling this type of stuff. I feel that's the bigger point in mentioning them in the context of the recent firings at MS's gaming side.

 

[Gamernyc78]

Japanese companies in general turn to firings as a last resort. Speaking of Nintendo, I remember when the Virtual Boy creator was assigned to another role in the company, rather than getting fired. At an American company he'd of probably been kicked out before the system even launched. Although, some would say that him being retained was its own punishment in a way (his new role was basically a heavy demotion).

Also reminds me: the Lenovo CEO did a similar thing years ago in taking a pay cut vs. firing employees when fiscal results didn't look too hot. I'm just willing to venture many Asian tech businesses in general place more value in employee morale and turn to firings as a last resort. At many, they'd rather demote if such has to be done, and start from the top working their way down.

As it should be.



Nintendo isn't a $3 trillion Big Tech mega-conglomerate who just completed the single largest valued M&A in gaming history. Also yes some gaming CEOs reduce their salaries or scale back on firings, and yes Nintendo does fire people. But you're missing the larger context.

That being, companies like Nintendo are larger than most other gaming companies, are a platform holder, and handle communication & processes of firings significantly better than a company like Microsoft, or Embracer Group. They don't fire employees nearly as frequently as those companies (or most gaming companies), and don't fire as many relative their total workforce as them (or most gaming companies). Companies like Nintendo are more an exception in the industry when it comes to responsibly handling employee firings, and as a platform holder that's going to get them more attention than a random 3P publisher or studio who do the same (or do it even better).

Point is, if companies like Nintendo can set a good example on how to handle this type of stuff, being one of the Big 3, then why can't a company significantly larger than them in valuation, resources etc. like Microsoft, do similar? Is it a corporate culture thing and is that influenced by one being a Japanese company and the other an American company? Who knows. But, maybe others in the industry can see how companies like Nintendo do it and improve their own means of handling this type of stuff. I feel that's the bigger point in mentioning them in the context of the recent firings at MS's gaming side.

Good points.

 

[AshHunter216]

I thought that legally in Japan it is very difficult to actually lay off large numbers of people.

 

[Darth Vader]

Nintendo has a great PR and a ton of people licking their asses. A ton of gaming CEOs reject bonuses, reduce their salary or even don't get salary to don't fire or reduce firings of their companies, I know many cases mostly from indie, small or mid companies. But they don't tell it in interviews (as an examples, I've been in both sides).

And yes, like every other company Nintendo also fires people. The difference is that when a couple of them say it in social media or LinkedIn the gaming press and 'insiders' don't go to claim they had massive layoffs.

Mate, simping for big corporations won't have them see you as useful.

 

[thicc_girls_are_teh_best]

I thought that legally in Japan it is very difficult to actually lay off large numbers of people.

It might be; apparently in the EU there are provisions to prevent layoffs of this scale from happening (although some people at the European branch of MS Gaming have also been laid off).

Mass firings of this scale (and with little communication ahead of time) seems unique to corporate America.

 

[Deleted member 223]

Mate, simping for big corporations won't have them see you as useful.

Social credit score building 101. Some are just ahead of the curve.....

 

[historia]

I thought that legally in Japan it is very difficult to actually lay off large numbers of people.

Firing people without 3-6 months prior notice and job compensation is illegal. Not to mention registering employees should come with insurances, benefits that cut prematurely can be brought to court.

The best you could do is moving people around.