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A new report alleges that Nintendo of America contractors feel like "second-class citizens&qu꧃ot; in comparison to other staff members.
The report comes from IGN and specifically focuses on ongoing issues behind the scenes at Nintendo of America, following recent reports that staff there are underp🥃aid and mistreated.
The reporಌt alleges that workers situated in one of the warehouses across the way from the main Redmond headquarters can be seen working on "outdated equipment and software", with comparisons being made to Windows XP.
It’s reportedly possible to find bins full of VHS tapes in the Product Testing and Development section of the warehouse and "secrecy, con🅰stant software crashes", and language issues frequently slow down work in the building.
According to the report, most of the staff in this building are contractors who feel like "second-class citizens with no hope of earning one of the coveted red badges" that employees have, and that it represents more than just job security and career progression, but also "a basic professional respect that many contractors don't feel". The report claims that the perception is that contractors have no path to become full-time staff.
One former contractor told IGN that working at Nintendo of America felt "stilted" and that employees found themselves apologising profusely if they had to leave 15 minutes early. Contractors reportedly have to "account for virtually every minute of their day on a timesheet", with one contractor saying, "You couldn't even really go to the bathroom without someone noticing you were away from your desk", while others fear going idle on Microsoft Teams, leading to them placing objects to keep their keyboards active while they’re away. Another employee, Jen, had to go home “due to the death of her sister” and was allegedly told by an interviewer that she had “attendance issues.”
Another problemhighlighted by the report is the paranoia that many employees feel about social media posts, for fear of being fi🔜red or reprimanded, with one employee describing feeling shocked upon seeing complaints as they "didn𝓀’t think there were that many people who would be willing to talk about it".
Full-time hiring is another issue alleged by the report and former workers, with one of IGN's sources estimating that demand for localisation writers and editors has nearly doubled over the past three years, but that there have been no full-time hires in that time.
These ongoing issues and the subsequent reports from the media regarding them can be felt in the studio now. An unnamed contractor said, "“Right now the mood is really tense. You really worry that Japan is going to see this and say, ‘Okay, what are we going to do about it?&rsqu🎐o;"
