• snooggums@midwest.social
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    8 months ago

    Just so surprising that treating staff well and keeping them around lets you do consistently high quality work. Boggles the mind really.

    • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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      8 months ago

      Well, this may not actually be the case. 7 or so years ago FromSoftware was pretty notoriously known to Japanese workers in the gaming industry to have very harsh working conditions, even among other Japanese studios that also have harsh conditions. Allegedly programmers at FromSoftware at that time were making an annual salary of only $27k USD. Compare this with Konami, who was paying an annual salary of $40k USD for the same position.

      Its possible in the last 7 years things might have changed, but Japanese companies are usually very resistant to change. Japanese work culture honestly sucks, I would never want to.live in Japan because of this.

      EDIT: You can see here that the overall worker satisfaction rating for FromSoftware is only 2.8 out of 5, which seems to be nearly the same as it used to be.

      NOTE: Some readers may see something about the “Whiteness/Blackness” of the company. This has nothing to do with race or racism. This is a slang term from Japanese culture that refers to how ethical a company is. A company that is very unethical (overworking employees, borderline illegal treatment of employees, etc) is called a “Black Company,” and everyone will tell you to avoid them. Conversely a “White Company” would be a very ethical company and one that everyone would be fighting each other to work for.

        • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Well, I wouldn’t call From a Black Company. 2.4 White rating is almost exactly in the middle.

          A real Black Company would be something like the V-Tuber Agency Wactor (and more recently maybe Nijisanji). This company has engaged in behaviour that is legitimately abusive to its employees, to the point that nearly all of its liver talents have quit.

          For Black Companies, it is most common that there is bullying or some other kind of abuse from higher ups, as well as threats of disrepute if the abused employees quit voluntarily. This doesn’t seem to be the case with FromSoftware. Just that they don’t pay overtime because it is considered voluntary (incredibly common among Japanese companies) and pay below industry average.

          • Neato@ttrpg.network
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            8 months ago

            Yeah that makes sense. My comment was a callback to Demon Souls feature of Pure White/Black World Tendency.

            • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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              8 months ago

              Yeah I fully got that. Its too bad World Tendency was such an obtuse mechanic.

              I just wanted to clarify that From wouldnt exactly count as Pure Black World Tendency, it would be more like a Neutral World Tendency.

      • oce 🐆@jlai.lu
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        8 months ago

        Japanese work culture honestly sucks, I would never want to.live in Japan because of this.

        You can find Western companies and semi-westernized Japanese companies where the work culture is better.

        • RightHandOfIkaros@lemmy.world
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          8 months ago

          Yes, but in Japan the large majority of businesses are Japanese, and most conform to the expected conditions of underpaying or not paying for overtime (“voluntary overtime”), etc.

          Just like there can be some companies that do the same thing in the USA, though it is not.common because there are laws specifically to prevent that.

    • ImplyingImplications@lemmy.ca
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      8 months ago

      keeping them around

      It’s rare for employees to move companies in Japan. A lot of people will work for the same company their whole life. Japanese companies aren’t really known for treating their employees well either.

      I’d guess what they’re doing well is hiring employees that are very passionate. I hear the anime industry is the same in that people who are in it are willing to work themselves to death because they want to work on big name projects

    • ferralcat@monyet.cc
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      8 months ago

      Just be clear, there is a reason that’s not in the quotes of the title. The author basically makes up that they’re "treating staff well* because they’re not randomly firing people right now. (The empowering bit is basically fabricated)