Source - http://biz.gamedaily.com/industry/feature/?id=15812
GameDaily BIZ has been tipped off by a reliable game industry source that Sony Computer Entertainment Europe (SCEE) is looking to cut its workforce by about ten percent. Nick Sharples, SCEE's Director of Corporate Communications, has confirmed to us that although no one at the company has been laid off as of yet, SCEE is indeed looking at the possibility of reducing headcount. Despite the ten percent figure indicated to us by our source, an exact percentage or number of job cuts is not yet determined, said Sharples.
"We have informed our staff that we are considering proposals that may result in a number of redundancies across the SCEE Group in Europe," Sharples told GameDaily BIZ. "Until those consultations are complete we will not know how many redundancies may be needed. We will not be providing any additional information on this process or making further announcements at the conclusion of the process."
Sharples went on to explain that management is faced with the tough decision to possibly lay off some staff because SCEE needs to streamline operations and reduce costs.
"The reason for the proposals is that, although SCEE has successfully faced a number of challenges throughout its history to become a leader of the videogame industry, our industry is in the middle of a period of transition where some of the fundamentals of our business are changing," he explained. "Chief amongst these is that we are entering a future of increasingly networked and converged entertainment. In order to maintain our leading position in the market we sometimes have to make difficult business decisions. The management of the company has concluded that we need to change our structure, streamline and strengthen our business operations – and that our cost base needs to be significantly reduced."
I consider this to be as 'official' as they come.
This is not a stab at Sony, but I wonder what suddenly brings this about? The PR front of Sony seems to be confident enough to not come across as 'worried' but when companies are making moves like these there are obviously things going on internally that we as the consumer don't know about.
To me this is worrying because I don't want what the signs that this points to to manifest or come true.
