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Amidst today’s New Nintendo 3DS excitement comes some rather unfortunate news. Nintendo of Europe have laid off 130 employees that worked for the company full-time, and another 190 people that worked for them through a leasing agency.
The situation regarding the 130 full-time employees was reported back in June, but the other 190 are a new development. Kotaku reports that the lay-offs are effective as of this week, and that all 320 people will be affected by August 31st.
In an e-mail to Kotaku, Nintendo of Europe, stated, “As previously communicated in June 2014, approximately 130 permanent employees will be released by Nintendo of Europe (Germany) at the end of August 2014 as part of a set of measures to better enable the European business to adapt to the rapidly changing business environment.”
The localization and testing duties handled by these employees will now be outsourced, Nintendo of Europe said, adding that it notified the affected employees in June 2014.
Traditionally, Nintendo has tried to avoid lay-offs in the past. Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated last year that he is vehemently opposed to the idea of lay-offs for short-term benefit, so it’s unfortunate that this situation has arisen now. We hope the affected employees land on their feet.
