Sony's game division was
first reported to be undergoing restructuring back in April and now, we're catching word that layoffs have begun. Two months back, only Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) was going to have to bear the brunt of restructuring by eliminating up to
160 jobs. Now, word is coming in about 80-100 layoffs from Sony Computer Entertainment America (SCEA). Apparently, much like an "
American Idol elimination episode," teams were split amongst between those being asked to leave and those likely asked to take on the other team's workload. Severance packages were provided but no one was asked to "finish out the rest of the day," instead being told to come back after hours or ask management to collect their belongings. SCEA's PR man
Dave Karraker, told
Kotaku earlier that "it was necessary to analyze our
current business and to restructure the company as necessary," which more or less validates the layoffs as a necessity. No official word from
SCEA on if more layoffs were planned or what potential gaming fallout may occur from this restructuring.
[
Update: When asked if PS3 sales were the direct cause of the SCEA layoffs, Dave Karraker declined and said, "this move is
not wholly related to any one product in our portfolio." So there you have it.]
{ Jun 6th 2007 at 1:45PM } 
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
MisterTwoTurbo @ Jun 6th 2007 2:09PM
I wonder if this is something they're doing to try and better their company, or it's simply a budget cut due to the inadequate ps3 sales. sorry to those who got let go.
Peter Vrabel @ Jun 6th 2007 2:17PM
Update: When asked if PS3 sales were the direct cause of the SCEA layoffs, Dave Karraker declined and said, "this move is not wholly related to any one product in our portfolio." So there you have it.
Peter
mccomber @ Jun 6th 2007 2:40PM
Short of it is — it sucks for those that lost their jobs, but that's business.
I'm sure if the ps3 was doing as well as the Wii it may not have happened, but I'm also sure it was probably a move that needed to be made. It was likely long past the time that Sony needed to look at their gaming division and asked themselves "what do we need to focus on?" Success with the ps2 was what surely kept a lot of people there that weren't really necessary to the functions of the company. Happens everywhere.
As I said when this came up for Europe; sometimes you just need to step back and trim the fat. It's easier to rebuild a company and make it stronger when you've gone through and cleaned house already.
Popfrogs @ Jun 6th 2007 3:06PM
My sympathy only if these were the in-the-trenches employees. If they were middle management, well, they should have seen it coming and bailed out.
upz @ Jun 6th 2007 5:45PM
Marvin, what's with the sudden sense of self righteousness? You're waiting to see a company crash and burn, but when something unfortunate really happens, you're suddenly their grief stricken pal with a heart o' gold? If you're wishing for the PS3 to fail, you're inevitably wishing for things like this happening. Why don't you cut out the self indulgent peace offerings and crawl back under your bridge?
massive_98 @ Jun 6th 2007 10:30PM
If these are the people that are behind the marketing for the PS3 they should not be let go. Look at all the great ads on http://www.playb3yond.com/
Those ads make me so glad I bought a PS3 instead of a 360.
I do feel sorry for those people. But if they are looking for jobs come to Calgary, Alberta in Canada. We are in such a boom you get paid $17.50 just to work at Tim Hortons(which is fast food/coffee place)
Its in Canadian dollars so its more like $16.92 american.
nick @ Jun 7th 2007 6:37PM
I wouldn't expect them to single out the PS3, but the PS3 and Blu-Ray are a contributing factor to Sony's downsizing.
But if you look at the bigger picture, it's Sony 9 billion dollars worth of debt. What contributed to that debt? And what isn't helping that debt?