US: Nintendo restructuring contractor group that helps test games & hardware

Nintendo of America‘s Washington state headquarters is home to multiple divisions. One of them is a group of contractors that helps test Nintendo products, including their video games and hardware. Earlier today, it was confirmed that this group of contractors is going to be restructured and downsized.

According to Nintendo in a statement sent to Kotaku, this initiative will result in a couple of things being implemented that will impact the contractors. The first thing is that, sadly, some contractors will be joining a rapidly growing number of people in the gaming industry that have been laid off from their jobs in the past year. Nintendo says that “the contractors’ agencies, with NOA’s support, will offer severance packages and provide assistance during their transition”.

The second thing is that the positions of some contractors will be upgraded to full-time employees, which Nintendo didn’t elaborate much on. It is unknown exactly how many contractors will be laid off and how many will become full-time employees at Nintendo. That said, Kotaku is saying that “according to four current and former employees, the restructuring could affect over 100 contractors, and most of those being converted to full-time status appear to be getting moved out of software testing”.

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Thanks to GreatSong1 for the tip!