Why are there no game development layoffs in Japan? - Pachter Factor S9E31

[@SIFTDGames]

How should publishers deal with racism? Are smaller shorter games the answer to all the layoffs? Why do the best developers want out? These episodes are LIVE right now for those of you who subscribe with Twitch Prime! Thank you for taking a couple seconds to help us and stick it to big brother! www.twitch.tv/SIFTDgames

[@nicholaspatterson4299]

Its the very simple fact that in America we value the bottom dollar line over talent and good will. We DONT CARE about "good employees or talent" when we can just churn out people and hire them as we need. Fast returns. Big profits. Screw what anyone thinks but the shareholders. That's America.

[@ZombieBarioth]

The law makes it harder for companies to fire employees in Japan. I forget the term for it but they essentially just assign people to meaningless tasks hoping they'll quite instead. That protection doesn't extend to contract workers though. So assuming laws don't change we may see Japanese companies shift more towards outsourcing as a workaround, similar to how US companies exploit part-time.

[@1MyNickname1]

Didn't stop Elon Musk firing a lot of Japanese people tho. It seems like if you really want it, you can do it. I think the main difference is in mentality tho, where in the US workers are seen as meat to bolster up your line while in Japan people are seen as talents that are the foundation of success. This whole mentality saved the US gaming market before and I am sure it will do it again soon. As thanks to all the layoffs the game quality will dwindle in the west while Japan keeps all its talent and produces way higher quality games.

[@ls.c.5682]

@@1MyNickname1 Who did Musk fire in Japan? There would have been a need for severance pay at least. Unless all the workers were "gyomu-itaku" contractors

[@hiawa23]

I am old school also. 50 years old worked for the same company for 30 years. Ready to retire.

[@PandaJerk007]

I wanna support SIFTD! but I feel bad watching on Twitch because now on KZbin I gotta wait two weeks for these videos to pass that I've already seen :/

[@david.9633]

Thanks for the episode

[@TheOrellana]

100k? I wanna work for Michael!

[@yousifnash5378]

So... can I send my resume to Pachter?

[@ls.c.5682]

I respect Mr Pachter in many ways, but he is very out of touch with Japan and Japanese companies. 1) The term for Japanese employment is usually the seishain system and it is VERY hard to fire employees after their probation period, so unfortunately there is a severe problem with workplace bullying and/or giving employees meaningless tasks, or transferring them to a remote office until they decide to quit if they are not wanted nor liked. 2) Japanese companies do in fact reward employees with stock options sometimes. Japanese companies also state that they are listed in the nikkei 225 stock tracker to try and attract employees. A company that was my client created a new label/subsidiary for their mobile gaming division to help create new stock options back in 2014 and I've heard of this practice happening a lot. 3) There are a lot of chuutou or mid-career recruitment fairs these days in Japan in game development and other industries to attract people from other companies to apply. The labor market in Japan is becoming increasingly tight.

[@lowelldolney2986]

Very well put. Silicon Valley doesn't have any loyalty period. I'd love to see a comparison of what percentage of staff Microsoft as a whole has laid off compared to just Xbox.

[@mattmccaughen7371]

Tango outta japan

[@herpderp9394]

that alone has crushed xbox reputation in japan.

[@SIFTDGames]

Tango was a US company, not a Japanese company. The decision to lay off those workers was made in America by Americans. It doesn't count.

[@ls.c.5682]

@@SIFTDGames It was Owned and operated by Zenimax Japan, which was indeed owned by an American company but they still have to dole out severance pay because of the seishain system and all the relevant paperwork (lots of it) due to the Japanese employment system.

[@Truth-op3be]

Unlike goggle with their free food gym etc. and so forth.” these Japanese companies actually work for a paycheck

[@ls.c.5682]

The amount of times I've seen workers literally sleep at their desks and heard over drinks that other companies have the same issue would make your head spin. A lot of the time it's to make it look like they put in a lot of O/T the night before. Also, there are subsidised cafeterias at the bigger companies, and often a snack area that is stocked like a conbini/convenience store that works on the honor system - if you take something put a couple hundred yen in the pot.

[@PillowEgg]

When executives aren't loyal to their company we get people like Don Mattrick, because of him he tanked the Xbox brand. Destroyed the reputation and even today we still feel the ripple effect. No one wants to be loyal to Xbox anymore.

[@TheBroz]

Blaming Don Mattrick for the state of Xbox currently is utterly hilariously tone deaf. He was one guy who’s long gone. Many of the leaders at Xbox now are the same guys who were making decisions back then. You can’t blame Mattrick for XGS’s inability to deliver.