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Microsoft Lays Off 34 Japanese Xbox Employees
Thanks to GameSpot for their article discussing the layoff of 34 Microsoft employees from its Japanese Xbox division. This accounts for just 17 percent of their Xbox workforce in Japan, but apparently the March 20th layoffs, documented in Nikkei BizTech, "..caused a commotion among the workers because of differences in business practices between Japan and the United States." The harsh 'escorted from premises' style of layoffs is not so common in Japan, according to the article, and so "..according to one of the employees who was cut, it felt as though they were treated like criminals." Needless to say, the layoffs, according to division head Par Singh, were because "sales of the Xbox in Japan had been extremely disappointing."
why is Xbox so unpopular in Japan? Is it cultural superiority?
I'm not sure how layoffs should be done but I know the way most American companies do it today isn't the solution. It does treat the ex-employees as if they were criminals. In my experience the ex-employees are escorted, in front of coworkers, to a small office. Given the news and any severence then given a swift kick out the door. I've even been in companies where they didn't let the employee pack their cube. Rather someone boxed it for them and shipped it...
One should not theorize before one has data. -Sherlock Holmes-
The reason employers do this "kick them out quick" approach is not out of spite but, rather, to protect themselves from employees who might try to exact some revenge on their way out. A just-fired employee might try to sabotage the computer system (particulary if file permissions are not set correctly). There's a whole bunch of things that a disgruntled employee can do to hurt his former employer. Giving them access to any work equipment or materials just after they got laid off or fired is very unwise.
GMD
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The employees were then told to check their e-mail inboxes
What a shitty and gutless way to fire someone. I think firing someone any other way than face to face whould be illegal.
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Microsoft forces layoffs on Xbox division in Japan
Microsoft cuts 17 percent of the workforce at the Japan branch.
According to a new report in Nikkei BizTech, Microsoft has laid off 34 employees in the Xbox division of its Japanese offices. The layoffs apparently caused a commotion among the workers because of differences in business practices between Japan and the United States.
According to the article, the Xbox division staff in Japan, which consists of approximately 200 employees, was called to a meeting at the company's Tokyo office on March 20. The staff was then told by its new division head, Par Singh, that the sales of the Xbox in Japan had been extremely disappointing, and that the company will be forcing early retirement on a number of its workers.
The employees were then told to check their e-mail inboxes, in which 34 of the workers received a notice to pack their belongings and go to the conference room. The passageway to the conference room had security guards protecting all the elevators and emergency exits. The terminated employees could use the restroom only if they were accompanied by one of the retained employees. According to one of the employees who was cut, if felt as though they were treated like criminals.
Upon reaching the conference room, the terminated employees were told to wait for their turn to meet with their supervisor and the human resources manager. When their turn came, the terminated employees were told that they were being laid off because their positions had been eliminated.
While Japanese companies no longer hire employees for life, it is still customary to retain employees as long as they are working hard and the company has the financial resources to support them. The employees naturally reacted badly to the abrupt layoff by Microsoft. But due to the forceful nature of the company's security measures, all 34 terminated employees had no choice but to accept their premium severance pay and leave the company.
The Xbox division in Japan has undergone a number of management changes since January, when division head Hirohisa Oura was transferred to Microsoft's headquarters in the US. R&D division head Toshiyuki Miyata--recruited from Sony Computer Entertainment--was also dismissed from his position. The movement toward layoffs and stricter controls of the Xbox division by the US headquarters seems to be connected to the recent declines in Microsoft Japan's business performance. Microsoft Japan will be operating under former vice president Michael Rawding starting in July, which will be the first time since the division was founded in 1986 that a non-Japanese president will be taking the seat.
What's the Japanese way of laying off someone?
I know this feeling. When I was much younger, I had a lot of company loyalty and was convinced that if I worked hard, I would be treated right. I watched layoff after layoff at two companies before i finally got caught up in one, and it was like a punch in the gut.
That was a giant wake-up call to look out for #1, because if you don't, all you'll get is #2.
I was escorted from the premises after having performed what I thought a rather amicable resignation. Quite simply I was moving from the area and the company unfortunately had no offices where I was moving to.
The way the company handled it though came across as if they trusted me about as much as they trusted a potential disgruntled employee. It comes across as a lack of respect for the person leaving and their level of responsibility. The best part of it was the companies core values and beliefs touted the fact that they believed firmly in giving individuals respect and that individuals treated with respect acted accordingly. But their treatment of those is another story.
To strive, to seek, but not to yield
The way the company handled it though came across as if they trusted me about as much as they trusted a potential disgruntled employee. It comes across as a lack of respect for the person leaving and their level of responsibility.
Yes, I understand that it's not "nice" or "fair" but companies don't really care about those things. They are playing it safe by assuming you're as bad as everyone else. Besides, would it really be any "nicer" for the company to escort certain employees out and let others take their time?
The best part of it was the companies core values and beliefs touted the fact that they believed firmly in giving individuals respect and that individuals treated with respect acted accordingly. But their treatment of those is another story.
You seem to already understand that their stated core values were really just words on a page to them. Also, you should double check that their stated core values really say "treating individuals with respect" and not "treating employees with respect". Since you just severed your relationship with them -- amicable or not -- I'm not sure why I see that they should still be held to those core values with regards to a now-former employee.
I'm not trolling or flaming you. I do understand the points you're making. I'm just saying that you have to look at this whole situation from the company's point of view. You remember how the LAPD told O.J. "Sure, you can turn yourself in down at the station when it's convienent, Juice. We don't want this to be any more embarrasing for you than it already is." Well, we know how well that approach went. Even if you seem like a nice guy, no manager is going to risk that one-in-a-million chance that you might go bonkers on your way out. That's the way PHB think. Remember, it's called "Human resources" and not "personel" for a reason.
GMD
watch this
...can be seen at IGN's monthly article "Gaming Life In Japan". Every month they release hardware and software sales for what are considered the major gaming consoles in Japan. Take a look at what was presented in June's article. The numbers are quite disturbing for Microsoft, though I'm sure that disappoints all the Open Source fans out there. ;)
Hardware Sales in Japan:
PS2: 44,300 (1,397,700)
Game Boy Advance SP: 31,800 (1,116,900 this year)
Game Boy Advance: 6,900 (890,800)
GameCube: 1,900 (284,800)
PSOne: 910 (42,800)
Xbox: 770 (58,00)
Swan Crystal: 320 (23,200)
I don't know which is funnier:
The fact that the PSOne outsold the Xbox during May, or the fact that this isn't the first time it has happened.
Here's a link to the actual article, but to give a fair warning, you have to be an IGN Insider to read it.
The reason employers do this "kick them out quick" approach is not out of spite but, rather, to protect themselves from employees who might try to exact some revenge on their way out.
Really, if there is worry that ex-employees will try to sabotage things, shouldn't that be an indication that the company didn't treat them very well in the first place? I guess escorting them out is just a continuation of that...
Anyone who gets fired can be expected to be a little upset... but I think it takes a vested hatred of the company to start sabotaging things.
-"One machine can do the work of fifty ordinary men. No machine can do the work of one extraordinary man." -EH
Microsoft Exec: "Sabotage our system...HA...to do that they'd have to exploit some security flaw in our softwa....oh, wait.
> "..according to one of the employees who was cut, it felt as though they were treated like criminals."
It feels like that here in the US as well. It's really a shame. The only thing you can do is take preventative maintenance. For every file you keep at work that you want to keep after you're fired, burn it to disk, or email it home, or log in remotely and copy it, keeping as up-to-date as your needs call for. It's also not a bad idea at work to heavily encrypt things like your resume, locally stored personal email, and anything else personal you might have. Sure they can fire you and delete it, but they can't look at it. Having something at home on permanent loan, like a company laptop (even better, with sensitive data on it) also helps for when you want your USB drive, 8 port hub, speakers, flash card reader, and optical mouse back.
The times when you are least likely ever to get fired are the times to arrange this sort of minor parachute, not the day after they announce layoffs.
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I disagree. Implementing this kind of draconian solution to a fear of reprisal just invites the employee to create security holes he can later use to extract revenge.
.com I worked at even had a ritual of employees who thought their jobs were on the line madly trying to copy sensitive documents onto CDâ(TM)s that they then carried off-site.
A large
A better way to do things is to work with IT and have access to systems turned off when the employee is terminated. That way the employee can still recover personal data and his effects without the potential to damage production machines.
One place I worked at actually removed the cat 5 cable from workstations of terminated employees to solve this problem in a rather low-tech fashion.
Right, because less consoles mean no monopoly? Sony would love you for PR.
----- "Blame the guy who doesn't speak English." -- Homer J. Simpson
Perhaps the lack of interest is the lack of Japanes only titles for the XBox. The PS2 has a constant stream of Japanese only titles being released. As bizare as I find some of those games they obviously have a market because they keep putting them out. The Xbox may not be properly targeting their audience.
As an aside, I feel really sympathetic to all employees of Xbox Japan. They are basically trying to sell ice to Eskimos (the Xbox is *that* unsuited to the Japanese market), and it's not their fault they can't. It's the boneheads at Redmond designed the stupid thing, and yet these guys are taking the fall for it. How maddening that must be.