Temporary Nintendo of America employees feel like ‘second-class citizens’

temporary workers (“contractors”) and part-time workers who work for Nintendo of America say dissatisfaction is growing due to the discrepancy between how they are treated and how full-time workers are treated. This is according to a study conducted by IGNwhich I spoke to dozens of current and former employees.

US company Nintendo has reportedly been reluctant to hire full-time employees and hire temporary workers and freelancers on a permanent basis. This may cause an increase in dissatisfaction among the temporary workers, while more and more are reviewed.

Nintendo itself previously reported an employee turnover rate of 4.7%, with full-time employees often staying employed for years or even decades. However, IGN sources say many temporary employees left after less than a year.

Part-time workers and temporary workers feel like “second class citizens” according to an IGN survey, in part because they are excluded from company outings, events and activities, and because there are different rules for attendance.

One source says the death of a family member prompted her to return home early during the interview process. The interviewer then told her that she had “having problems with being present”.

Also, some US Nintendo decisions are in question. For example, the unexpected shutdown of Nintendo’s Redwood City office could have caused dissatisfaction. One of the sources said, “The picture I got is that a lot of people were successfully working from home, after which Nintendo closed its Redwood City office and said ‘None of you can stay in California, you have to move here or leave’.”

IGN also spoke to former Nintendo President of America Reggie Fils-Aimé, who said he doesn’t recognize himself in the Nintendo pictorial. “I’ve read stories about the gap between temporary and full-time workers. All I can say is that this is not the culture I left behind when I split up from Nintendo,” Phils Amy said.