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.

  • @qarbone
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    238 hours ago

    In the immortal words of that dumbo from Blizz “do you guys not have phones?”

    If you leave me in a room and give me no tasks while still paying me, you’ve got me on salary to slack. And I will outperform everyone. Or no one, I’m not sure which one.

    And honestly figuring that out is probably not in my job description anymore.

    • @Demdaru
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      124 minutes ago

      And company has cameras. Where I live, most monitor workers 24/7. So they would that especially while trying to get rid of you.

      Of course, they say it’s for security and that’s what you sign for, so they can’t simply grab screen of you on phone and throw you out…however, suddenly management gets super instinct.

    • @phoneymouse
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      338 hours ago

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

      • @Zahille7
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        346 minutes 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.

      • babybus
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        114 hours ago

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

      • @[email protected]
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        86 hours ago

        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
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          54 hours ago

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