Nintendo investigates sexist workplace claims
The gaming giant has been accused of pay inequality and poor contracting policies.
Why You Should Care
Nintendo is under fire for sexism in the workplace.
Uncover what prompted these allegations and how the company will respond.
Nintendo is a titan of the gaming industry with more successful consoles and loveable characters than most. Of course, this kind of reputation is built by employees and their efforts, and the company is currently facing backlash because of allegations of sexism.
Former employees have told gaming outlet Kotaku about their experiences working at Nintendo such as gender pay gaps and unprofessional behavior.
A former employee (who asked not to be identified) explained to Kotaku that she was thrilled to join Nintendo, but after nine years the situation soured, and she lodged a complaint with senior leadership.
Notably, a junior male contractor in her department was earning $19 an hour while she was receiving $16. Part of the problem could be attributed to the nature of contract work where demand dictates wage. However, no company wants to be known for gendered pay gaps.
In addition, a male colleague was allegedly making inappropriate sexual comments about Nintendo game characters in group conversations.
The former employee said: “Nintendo was almost like a nightmare. It’s sad because I love Nintendo; I grew up with Nintendo. I was so excited to join Nintendo when I first got there, and I thought I was going somewhere. I had my supervisors telling me I was doing such a good job.”
However, after reporting incidents of inappropriate workplace discussion the former employee says that things worsened. She is not alone in her comments; there have been reports of male staff in the US publicly discussing the color of their female colleagues’ underwear, and making other sexist comments.
The current situation at Nintendo
At the moment, women are underrepresented among Nintendo’s contractors and full-time employees. Nintendo’s data shows this as only 37% of salaried employees are women and just 23.7% of managers are female.
Speaking about the lack of opportunities to secure promotions, another former employee who tested Nintendo 3DS games said: “There was lots of favoritism, cronyism. The assumption was that if a woman was doing well, it was because she was friends with the right people.”
In response to the accusations, the president of Nintendo America Doug Bowser wrote in an internal memo: “We have strict policies designed to protect our employees and associates from inappropriate conduct and expect full compliance with these policies by all who work for or with us.
“We have and will always investigate any allegations we become aware of, and we are actively investigating these most recent claims.”
With all these accusations in mind, Nintendo may need to look at its culture in order to move forward.
UNLEASH has reached out to Nintendo for comment but is yet to receive a response.
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Senior Journalist
Dan combines his first-hand experience alongside the latest news and opinions in the HR Technology space.
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