Sega of America plans to lay off 61 employees in March, according to a California Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) report. Eurogamer and user @WhatLayoff was first reported in the government's notice, which lists two separate job cuts classified as “permanent layoffs” on March 8. This is the last chapter of more than a year of brutal job cuts in the worlds of technology and gaming.
California's WARN Act, passed in 1988, requires employers to provide 60 days' notice of upcoming layoffs, giving affected workers time to prepare. It applies to companies employing at least 75 full-time or part-time employees and covers layoffs of 50 or more people within 30 days. It's unclear how many workers Sega of America employs.
The WARN report lists separate layoffs (one of 12 and another of 49 workers) at two Sega of America offices based in Irvine, California. The job cuts both have a “notice” date of January 8, and the reports were “processed” by California on January 29 with an “effective” date of March 8.
Communications Workers of America (CWA) filed an unfair labor practice complaint against Sega in November after the publisher reportedly announced it would lay off 80 union workers. At the time, the organization said Sega presented the proposal in a meeting with a captive audience, describing the circumstances as “a clear case of bad faith negotiation.”
The Allied Employees Guild Improving SEGA (AEGIS-CWA), the union representing Sega workers in the United States, wrote It was Tuesday The union said Sega plans to outsource quality assurance and some localization work “in a move that would have a significant impact on our workforce.”
Sega has not publicly confirmed the layoffs. Engadget has reached out to a company representative and we will update this article if we receive a response.
The layoffs come less than two months after Sega announced it would do so. refresh your classics Crazy taxi, Radio Jet Set, Shinobi, Golden Ax And The streets of rage. Eurogamer notes the company Like a dragon: infinite wealthlaunched last week, was a high mark for the publisher.