this post was submitted on 17 Oct 2024
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Work Reform

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Bandai Namco has reportedly turned to the unspoken Japanese tradition of layoff-by-boredom by stuffing unwanted employees into oidashi beya, or "expulsion rooms."

Employees ~~banished~~ reassigned to oidashi beya are left to do nothing, or given menial tasks at best. According to Bloomberg's unnamed insider sources, Bandai Namco has moved around 200 of its 1,300 person team to these rooms in recent months.

The goal of sticking someone in an expulsion room is to literally bore or shame them into quitting, and Bloomberg's sources claim it has worked on around half the people Bandai Namco has stuck in there so far.

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[–] phoneymouse@lemmy.world 49 points 1 month ago (6 children)

Seems nice at first, but having worked jobs with nothing to do, time passes so slow. It’s painful.

[–] babybus@sh.itjust.works 16 points 1 month ago

Yep. There is a reason why "layoff-by-boredom" exists and works. It's uncomfortable for most us to be bored.

[–] Default_Defect@midwest.social 15 points 1 month ago (1 children)

I'd take slow and nothing to do over getting worked to the bone daily every time, I've had both. I have an active imagination, I manage.

[–] babybus@sh.itjust.works 7 points 1 month ago

You don't have to choose between the two evils though. There are just normal jobs.

[–] Zahille7@lemmy.world 12 points 1 month ago

Yup. I used to work at a toy store in my local mall that was just not doing business. Anytime I worked, I'd get maybe 5 customers a shift, and these were like 10-6 shifts.

I was so bored I felt like I could cry just to pass the time. There were a couple times where I straight up took a nap behind the counter because I was so tired and bored.

[–] WalrusDragonOnABike 6 points 1 month ago

If you know they are just trying to get you to quit and don't actually want you to do anything, I imagine it's easier than a job where you have to worry about how you appear to bosses and others. The facade of being productive itself can be taxing.

But it also depends how much leeway they give to do whatever. If you know you can just stay up all night and come in to sleep 8 hours, the time could pass pretty quickly...

[–] lightnsfw@reddthat.com 5 points 1 month ago (1 children)

Not for me. I can zone out for hours like it's nothing.

[–] unphazed@lemmy.world 1 points 1 month ago

Used to work security. Even when on a street corner observing for state legislature meetings (no phone allowed), I played games of rearranging letters on billboards or vehicles to make new words. (They have cameras and police, I was just there as a deterrent). Wouldn't have been so bad if it wasn't 18 degrees F and 32mph winds...

[–] Notyou@sopuli.xyz 1 points 1 month ago

Pick up a hobby, read a book. Not sure how Japan or other countries are living, but one thing we still have in the USA are public libraries. We can download an app and check out books. For free. There is a lot more stuff at the actual library, but downloading books and reading them for money sounds like something I can retire doing. I take book reading days at my current job. As long as I put in "8 hours" of work they don't care how I spend my 8 hours.