- Nintendo attributes that to issues of tenure in a place where workers stay at the company for an average of 14.3 years (and where veteran employees are mostly men).
- “The pay gap between male and female regular employees is mainly due to differences in the length of service and average age,” the company noted: “There is no difference in treatment between men and women in terms of salary or evaluation systems.”
I think it's naturally a long-term goal due to the lack of the turn-over.I have absolutely zero knowledge of Japanese business and whether culture is to blame for these numbers, but how could they effectively change the situation for the better?
I mean, just hire more women might be a over simplification of things so I would have liked to see something that goes a little more in depth.
Pretty much the old guard needs to retire.I have absolutely zero knowledge of Japanese business and whether culture is to blame for these numbers, but how could they effectively change the situation for the better?
I mean, just hire more women might be a over simplification of things so I would have liked to see something that goes a little more in depth.
I think the bigger issue when there's a lack of diversity at an organization is that there's often a lack of internal motivation to rectify the problem. It's been 2 years since Nintendo was forced to publicize these numbers due to a new law, but it's unlikely that there have only been a few managers who are women for 2 years. This is probably a long-term problem that we're learning about now.This is a hard problem to solve considering that the only way for new management positions to be created in the short term, is for Nintendo to fire managers. If their workforce doesn't leave willingly, then that would be the only option to do so. But Nintendo quite famously, holds onto their employees and do everything in their power to stop layoffs. Which is a labor positive thing. We definitely should applaud that.
The only other option is the company to expand and allow female employees to take those roles. However, Nintendo famously doesn't have any room in their offices anymore, and that's why they are constructing another building. By which time it will take a at least 5 years for construction and then they need more developers to expand.
No matter what, it's going to take a while. But at the very least, Nintendo knows of the problems, and can take steps to correct. But this is going to take a long while to correct.
Am I missing something or did you just forget to write “one of the best” because that’s not true. Agree with your overall point though.Best selling japanese game ever (AC New Horizons) was directed by a woman.
I think woman in gaming can make much more broad appealing games, thus selling better than a male focused title.
Are you serious? I can't believe i'm the first to ask this.Appalling numbers, I think we at Famiboards should organize a boycott of an upcoming title.
Are you serious? I can't belive i'm the first to ask this.
Realistically, what would you like them to do?Assuming that statement is true, what would be your problem with it?
In Japan*Am I missing something or did you just forget to write “one of the best” because that’s not true. Agree with your overall point though.
Well if you're going to just boycott a single title that's just half-assing it, if members here band together to boycott 1 game they will obviously pick a title they aren't interested in, in a way we're all boycotting specific titles. Something like a petition would be way more effective and proportional when you consider the influence the lack of women in manging positions has on your life. It would likely also attract people outside this small community.Assuming that statement is true, what would be your problem with it?
Realistically, what would you like them to do?
They don't have space to expand and there's barely any turnover in the company. Are you suggesting they fire or force retirement on their management to open up opportunities for women?
What's the plan here?
Well if you're going to just boycott a single title that's just half-assing it, if members here band together to boycott 1 game they will obviously pick a title they aren't interested in, in a way we're all boycotting specific titles. Something like a petition would be way more effective and proportional when you consider the influence the lack of women in manging positions has on your life. It would likely also attract people outside this small community.
As for the lack of women in management positions itself, discrimination could be a factor - which doesn't entirely rhyme with there being female managers already - but also unequal pools of potential candidates. To have 50/50 sex parity in every field the sexes would need to start behaving differently and I personally cant help but notice I mostly see parity or female domination wished for high status fields.
Could you please expand more in this statement?To have 50/50 sex parity in every field the sexes would need to start behaving differently and I personally cant help but notice I mostly see parity or female domination wished for high status fields.
they hated him because he spoke the truthAppalling numbers, I think we at Famiboards should organize a boycott of an upcoming title.
I wasn't trying to mock the call for the boycott. I was asking what a boycott was supposed to accomplish.Well first of all i don't think that user is being serious.
Nevertheless, the thing here is that a boycott is just a protest , right? , you can take any reason important enough for you and boycott anything you want, that's your right as a person. You can tell somebody why you are boycotting , aske them to join, that's also their right.
You can be also against or to don't agree to that boycott. That's also your right.
What makes always give the side eye to someone is when they attack, mock or have a gut reaction to someone who is boycotting something specially for a social justice cause, time and time again experience has telling me that these people are against "the idea" behind the boycott, not the boycott itself because, let's be real, most of boycotts to big companies in this uber capitalist society are destined to eventual failure or to not hurt the companies as much as we may want. The people who has gut reactions to boycotts , once you start asking questions, their arguments fall apart very quickly and eventually start showing their assess.
Could you please expand more in this statement?
I wasn't trying to mock the call for the boycott. I was asking what a boycott was supposed to accomplish.
Unless you're ok with firing/force retiring talented people to increase a percentage stat then I'm not sure what the plan forward is supposed to be.
My questioning to this boycott specifically isn't because I'm defending Nintendo or against social justice causes. My questioning is addressing what said boycott is supposed to accomplish beyond a reactionary measure.
Looks like you're more interested in casting judgment to prove moral superiority then actually having a conversation about what an action is actually meant to accomplish.Sometimes a Boycott is only " i will not give this company my money anymore" have a piece of mind and that's it. It's that bad? Nobody is going to twist your arm to join a boycott.
I'm not quite sure what this is supposed to mean or how we reach this conclusion. Firing talented people to meet a quota? is Nintendo going to fire Shigeru Miyamoto because of the big , bad scary feminists?? is that your fear?
Sometimes you have to be reactionary and that's ok, nevertheless as i said, sometimes the only goal is to not give your money to a company/artist/whatever that you disagree with and have a piece of mind, maybe make other people aware why you are doing it and have that long shot in make other people support you, to agree with you or at least make them aware of the problems that made you take that decision. Why is that bad? it's not like your $60 is going to broke the company.
The hilarious thing for me in this thread is that even talking about an hypothetical boycott to Nintendo has some DF talking about the fear "firing talented people to meet a percentage", claiming that "sexes need to modify behavior" and etc etc. Imagine if someone comes here and dead seriously says :
" Moving forward I will boycott Nintendo for their shitty business practices, their draconian and shitty treatment to its fans and community, their shitty treatment of employees, their shitty treatment of contractors and their lack of diversity on their management"
Just imagine the the fury of defense force with their : "Hey are you serious!!!?? i cant believe I'm the first one asking this, woof woof woof" . HELL writing this message makes me wonder why I don't I boycott myself LMAO.
LOL I literally told you (twice) what the action is meant to accomplish and I indirectly called out my own hypocrisy and lack of moral superiority in not boycotting (yet) myself.Looks like you're more interested in casting judgment to prove moral superiority then actually having a conversation about what an action is actually meant to accomplish.
Yeah I'm good.
It‘s not about their workforce. 19.5% of Nintendo Ltd (Japan) employees are women according to their CSR Report 2021. Which is also not great of course.Not even 10% of the workforce in Japan is pretty pathetic. Gotta do better Nintendo.
I'm still waiting for a JP Direct of any kind to have a female narrator. Or even a presenter.
Yeah I thought Nakamura was narrating lately. It makes sense considering how many women are Switch owners.Hasn't the JP Directs mostly been narrated by Yuichi Nakamura (the YouTuber/voice actor)? A female presenter would be cool though.
As an aside, I noticed a couple of female NoA employees got promoted over the weekend on Twitter. Not sure of the full extent of those promotions since I only saw two but the timing is notable.
I wasn't trying to mock the call for the boycott. I was asking what a boycott was supposed to accomplish.
Unless you're ok with firing/force retiring talented people to increase a percentage stat then I'm not sure what the plan forward is supposed to be. There's only so many management spots and with no expansion along with little turnover the stat is not going to be great for a while. While I'm hoping that future openings will be filled with women over time, I look at calls for a boycott now as a reactionary measure to a stat that lacks actual nuance.
My questioning to this boycott specifically isn't because I'm defending Nintendo or against social justice causes. My questioning is addressing what said boycott is supposed to accomplish beyond a reactionary measure.
From what I have seen, the systemic cultural issues that prevent women and LGBTQ people from either entering, proceeding and staying in the workforce (the STEM workforce in particular) have not been abated to a satisfactory level. And, to put a finer point on it, the fact that Nintendo - even with these numbers presented - has one of the best records for employment of women in the video game industry in Japan speaks volumes as to how widespread, far-reaching and systemic the problem is, in that extends far beyond Nintendo's own control. Corporations in Japan being required to report dismal numbers like this will only motivate them to pressure the government to actually resolve these systemic issues, but the ruling LDP only has interest in lip service to systemic issues rather than making hard choices.A lot of that has to do, in my estimation, with the fact that the current managers were promoted to that position before Nintendo began broadening its number of women in their workforce in Japan and the fact that many managers don't retire all that quickly. They're also limited by who is permitted to exit university with a degree, and there's a lot of hay being made in Japan about how the university system has gendered favouritism towards men in multiple facets. Many women hired in STEM positions in Japan studied abroad because of that precise problem.
NCL's odds of gender equality and inclusivity are unfortunately stacked against them due to the national culture they're surrounded in. For example, this:
In spite of NCL's commitment to equitable treatment for LGBTQ employees, you'd be hard-pressed to find employees who are willing to be out at work there in spite of this, because while there may be trust with management, there likely isn't any trust among the other employees and it may not be enough to overcome the anxiety associated with doing so. There is such an immensely pervasive culture of terror regarding being out to anyone in a work environment that no statement of principles from management can fully alleviate, so what Nintendo's own LGBTQ employees believe will happen to them if they stand up and account themselves as being LGBTQ and advocating for the community in development is going to heavily diminish efforts of inclusivity, thanks to a national culture abundant with examples of negative outcomes to coming out at work there, particularly a rash of forced outings that ruined several LGBTQ lives and livelihoods. Here's an excerpt since it's paywalled:Nintendo Underlines Its Commitment To Diversity And Inclusivity
And details its new Partnership Systemwww.nintendolife.com
"People having their sexual orientation or gender identity revealed without their consent has become a deepening problem in Japan, a country known for its culture in which the "nail that sticks out gets hammered down."
In recent years, there have been a growing number of cases in which a person has been outed by someone they trust, sometimes resulting in the affected person feeling they have to quit school or work to escape the fallout.
.....
Maezono explained that the root of the problem lies in society's unwillingness to recognize sexual diversity. "Many sexual minorities are in a situation where they feel they must hide," he said."
These systemic cultural issues CAN be overcome, and Nintendo doesn't seem to be afraid of being ahead of the curve on these things (they were one of the first Japanese video game publishers to hire women for development roles and have one of the best gender splits in the total workforce in the industry there) but it's not going to be easy and it's going to take time, assuredly more time than we want it to take.
With the expansion still in progress, I could see Aya Kyogoku being promoted to Deputy General Manager within the next 5-10 years and opening a seat for EPD Production Group 5 manager that she could fill with another woman. It's stuff like that which will help make the difference. It's part of why I've been so positive about their employment expansion, it opens up new opportunities.This is a hard problem to solve considering that the only way for new management positions to be created in the short term, is for Nintendo to fire managers. If their workforce doesn't leave willingly, then that would be the only option to do so. But Nintendo quite famously, holds onto their employees and do everything in their power to stop layoffs. Which is a labor positive thing. We definitely should applaud that.
The only other option is the company to expand and allow female employees to take those roles. However, Nintendo famously doesn't have any room in their offices anymore, and that's why they are constructing another building. By which time it will take a at least 5 years for construction and then they need more developers to expand.
No matter what, it's going to take a while. But at the very least, Nintendo knows of the problems, and can take steps to correct. But this is going to take a long while to correct.
Do you know which is higher between senior officers and the deputy managers? Like you said I’m surprised Kyogoku wasn’t made into either one of those positions alongside Sakomoto or Tanabe considering the sales of NH. Maybe it’s just a tenure thing?I had a lot to say the last time this was brought up on 2021, and it's all still relevant:
From what I have seen, the systemic cultural issues that prevent women and LGBTQ people from either entering, proceeding and staying in the workforce (the STEM workforce in particular) have not been abated to a satisfactory level. And, to put a finer point on it, the fact that Nintendo - even with these numbers presented - has one of the best records for employment of women in the video game industry in Japan speaks volumes as to how widespread, far-reaching and systemic the problem is, in that extends far beyond Nintendo's own control. Corporations in Japan being required to report dismal numbers like this will only motivate them to pressure the government to actually resolve these systemic issues, but the ruling LDP only has interest in lip service to systemic issues rather than making hard choices.
With the expansion still in progress, I could see Aya Kyogoku being promoted to Deputy General Manager within the next 5-10 years and opening a seat for EPD Production Group 5 manager that she could fill with another woman. It's stuff like that which will help make the difference. It's part of why I've been so positive about their employment expansion, it opens up new opportunities.