Staff Lay-offs at Sony in America

Somewhere between 80 and 100 staff were laid off at Sony Computer Entertainment of America's Foster City headquarters yesterday, a mere two months after around 160 members of staff were laid off from Sony Computer Entertainment Europe.

Apparently those laid off were asked to vacate the building immediately and have their manager pack up their desk for them or schedule an evening appointment to fetch their possessions. According to a source, fair severance packages have been arranged for those staffers now out of work.

The single source also quotes upper management as stating that the cuts were "spurred by the company's multi-billion dollar losses and the sky-rocketing cost of PS3 game development".

Sony America's senior director of corporate communications, Dave Karraker, (pictured right) responded directly, telling Kotaku, "In an effort to accurately align the company to meet the changing needs of our consumers and of our industry, Sony Computer Entertainment America has found it necessary to analyze our current business and to restructure the company as necessary to continue our standing as the market leader."

“These restructuring efforts are currently under way and do include the streamlining of our operations and other initiatives to further strengthen the business, reduce costs and increase operational efficiency.”

^{Source: Kotaku}