Namco Bandai Extends Voluntary Retirement Program Due to Lack of Interest

Namco Bandai's slogan.

Earlier this month, Namco Bandai Holdings lowered its sales and earnings forecasts for the year. Instead of an originally forecast 8.5 billion yen in earnings, it now expects a loss of 31 billion yen.

To combat the losses, the company announced a restructuring plan that it called "Bandai Namco Group Restart Plan." Workforce reductions are, expectedly, a part of this plan. The company aims to cut 10% of its workforce of around 7,000 through voluntary retirement.

For Namco Bandai Games, the subsidiary that develops and publishes all the video games, the target was 200 people, and the deadline to reach the target was today.

So is Namco Bandai's managerial staff better at convincing people to leave than they are at turning a profit? The answer appears to be no. According to the online edition of the Sankei Shimbun newspaper, as of 15:00 today, only 30% of the required volunteers had volunteered.

As a result, Namco Bandai Games is extending the deadline through March 12.

If that fails, how about a Tekken tournament to determine who goes?