Lay-Offs Hit Sony's PlayStation Unit

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Apparently there is more bad news for Sony’s PlayStation unit today. According to reports from one of the employees affected, almost one hundred people are being laid off as part of a restructuring plan at Sony Computer Entertainment America. This comes one month after Sony laid off thousands of employees in Europe and claimed it had no plans to cut jobs in North America.

The lay-offs, which were proceeded by a months long hiring freeze, were prompted by SCEI's call for cut backs which in turn was spurred by the company's multi-billion dollar losses and the sky-rocketing cost of PS3 game development, upper management told those who remained at the office.
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Steve said:
This comes one month after Sony laid off thousands of employees in Europe and claimed it had no plans to cut jobs in North America.
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Since when did anyone start believing the BS fed to them from companies around here? Not to mention that it came from Sony.

It doesn't really surprise me really. This is how the global job market has become. Companies feel that people are expendable. There is no loyalty to employees from companies any more for the most part. People lives are just a number on a piece of paper. How many people do you met that have worked their whole lives at the same company?
 
MorfiusX said:
Since when did anyone start believing the BS fed to them from companies around here? Not to mention that it came from Sony.

It doesn't really surprise me really. This is how the global job market has become. Companies feel that people are expendable. There is no loyalty to employees from companies any more for the most part. People lives are just a number on a piece of paper. How many people do you met that have worked their whole lives at the same company?
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My mom. 30 years with AT&T who was SBC who was Pacific Bell.

They can't fire her or lay her off for any reason anymore...been there too long and company has a policy for that. It doesn't pay much as she is the supervisor for the people who do the yellowpage ads but the benefits are crazy and the vacation days are plentiful.

She expects around $500K+ retirement money. 2 years left.

Funny thing is she tells me they have only replaced their computers 3 times since she has been there...every 10 years LOL :D
 
my dad has worked at the same company his whole life and it's in the automotive industry

and so far i've worked the same job (7 years)
 
Sony would save a LOT more money just by firing the people who caused the problem in the first place - their panel of world-class retard executives (not in North America, but at headquarters...heck, maybe in North America, too). They could then promote people who actually deserve the lofty positions and give them reasonable salaries (as opposed to the ridiculous ones their current execs make).

Of course, doing something that requires intelligence and decency, so I guess it makes sense that Sony never even considered it.
 
Sometimes the best way to raise employee morale is to fire all the unhappy people..
 
The beatings will continue until morale improves?

Seriously though, this has gone worse for Sony than I imagined it would. If it's as expensive to produce 'A' titles for the PS3 as it sounds, then I can understand why they want a 10 year life cycle for the machine. It may take that long for it (via licensing fees on software sales) for the business to break even.
 
MorfiusX said:
Maybe I'm just jaded...
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Eh, you're far from that jaded my friend. You rarely find anyone under 40 or so who has worked in only one place, or even in only one industry anymore. Used to be, you'd work for one company, cultivate useful skills and benefit the company in ways they needed, and when you worked 35 years or so, you'd get a party, a nice watch as a present, and a retirement benefit. Now a week before you're up for tenure (or whatever), you just get a pink slip.

The work ethic in this country is really kinda funny. Instead of teaching/training people HOW to be helpful to our company, we'll just keep firing and looking for people who already know how. The bottom line shouldn't be everything. :(

Mini-Me said:
Sony would save a LOT more money just by firing the people who caused the problem in the first place
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OOOOOOOOOOOH yeah. But unfortunately, those are the people who decide who gets fired. Two guesses who they're gonna pick! ;)
 
LeTUOtter said:
Eh, you're far from that jaded my friend. You rarely find anyone under 40 or so who has worked in only one place, or even in only one industry anymore. Used to be, you'd work for one company, cultivate useful skills and benefit the company in ways they needed, and when you worked 35 years or so, you'd get a party, a nice watch as a present, and a retirement benefit. Now a week before you're up for tenure (or whatever), you just get a pink slip.

The work ethic in this country is really kinda funny. Instead of teaching/training people HOW to be helpful to our company, we'll just keep firing and looking for people who already know how. The bottom line shouldn't be everything. :(


OOOOOOOOOOOH yeah. But unfortunately, those are the people who decide who gets fired. Two guesses who they're gonna pick! ;)
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This is not true at all. I'm studying the human resources industry in school right now and I can tell you from the research and studies that right now that it just isn't true. Because talent is harder to come by these days, companies are actually trying harder to retain people then they did 'back in the day' and offering far more benefits and perks beyond the normal health/vacation/pension. It just seems like it's so much of an issue because you don't read about Verizon deciding not to lay off 3000 people or whatever only when they layoffs happen.
 
I feel sorry for anyone who loses their job trough no fault of their own - but I can't feel sorry for Sony.Anyone that smug and out of touch with consumers deserves a wake up call.
 
Cut one executive, save a hundred workers.
 
eco said:
This is not true at all. I'm studying the human resources industry in school right now and I can tell you from the research and studies that right now that it just isn't true. Because talent is harder to come by these days, companies are actually trying harder to retain people then they did 'back in the day' and offering far more benefits and perks beyond the normal health/vacation/pension. It just seems like it's so much of an issue because you don't read about Verizon deciding not to lay off 3000 people or whatever only when they layoffs happen.
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Since when has learning about something in school been a true reflection of either the real world or the present job market? It may not be a widespread phenomenon, but both of the major companies that I have worked for over the past seven years have embraced the philosophy of the disposable employee. The idea that "qualified" personnel are unavailable is laughable. I'd like to see some of these companies called to task for hiring someone with a paper degree (i.e. no experience) and a H1B visa, but not keeping an experienced worker who might not even need to be retrained for a position. So Verizon didn't layoff 3000 or so people this time. Wow, give 'em an award.
 
eco said:
This is not true at all. I'm studying the human resources industry in school right now and I can tell you from the research and studies that right now that it just isn't true. Because talent is harder to come by these days, companies are actually trying harder to retain people then they did 'back in the day' and offering far more benefits and perks beyond the normal health/vacation/pension. It just seems like it's so much of an issue because you don't read about Verizon deciding not to lay off 3000 people or whatever only when they layoffs happen.
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If it's true, that's good news. I know a lot of it is a residual of the early/mid 90s mindset. Are those numbers you got in class indicative of a particular business size? Cause I know it's far easier to work in one place if it's a smaller or local company. Working for a big time business (e.g., Sony) definitely doesn't seem to fit that trend (from the news articles at least).
 
ajira99 said:
Since when has learning about something in school been a true reflection of either the real world or the present job market? It may not be a widespread phenomenon, but both of the major companies that I have worked for over the past seven years have embraced the philosophy of the disposable employee. The idea that "qualified" personnel are unavailable is laughable. I'd like to see some of these companies called to task for hiring someone with a paper degree (i.e. no experience) and a H1B visa, but not keeping an experienced worker who might not even need to be retrained for a position. So Verizon didn't layoff 3000 or so people this time. Wow, give 'em an award.
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Because what I learn in school is based on research done on the present jobs market. What value would it be if what I was learning wasn't relevant? If you knew very much about H1B visas, you'd know that there is nowhere near enough to go around to fill in what is actually needed or desired. Not to mention H1B visas have to also be shared with the pool of non-highly skilled workers, so it isn't simply fresh tech grads from China and India that are getting these things. Again, if you knew any research done on any of this, you'd know that in fact most companies do try to find other positions in the company for employees before laying them off, and if they can't, they try their best to help that employee find a new job. For instance, some very large companies such as SouthWest Airlines fill 80% of all open positions with current employees.

LeTUOtter said:
If it's true, that's good news. I know a lot of it is a residual of the early/mid 90s mindset. Are those numbers you got in class indicative of a particular business size? Cause I know it's far easier to work in one place if it's a smaller or local company. Working for a big time business (e.g., Sony) definitely doesn't seem to fit that trend (from the news articles at least).
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It actually is larger businesses that have the resources to offer such perks that are leading the trend. While mega businesses such as Sony and AT&T aren't at the forefront of it, it's generally the mid to upper end of the business size that is doing it.
 
Mini-Me said:
Sony would save a LOT more money just by firing the people who caused the problem in the first place - their panel of world-class retard executives (not in North America, but at headquarters...heck, maybe in North America, too). They could then promote people who actually deserve the lofty positions and give them reasonable salaries (as opposed to the ridiculous ones their current execs make).

Of course, doing something that requires intelligence and decency, so I guess it makes sense that Sony never even considered it.
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Not surprised. Remember all those comments by Kutaragi about the PS3? I wonder where he is now? :D Will Sony ever learn? Probably not! (not in this round of console wars)
 
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