Bandai Namco employees are reportedly the latest victim of a wildfire of videogame layoffs that've scorched through the industry these past couple of years—although, owing to the unique nature of Japanese labour laws, the axe hasn't fallen quickly.
According to a report from Bloomberg, approximately 200 out of 1,300 employees have been sent to "expulsion rooms"—also known as oidashi beya—an unsavoury practice that is nonetheless still apparently a problem in the industry. Rather than butting up against the extremely strict dismissal laws, practising companies will instead transfer their employees to rooms or floors that are designed to bore them out of their skull, or culturally shame them into accepting severance deals.
