As part of a broader company restructuring effort, Japanese multimedia conglomerate Kadokawa Corporation announced in May that it would be offering an unspecified number of employees over the age of 45 with at least 5 years of service the opportunity for early retirement in June with additional benefits such as an enhanced severance package and optional support for re-employment elsewhere.
Last week, as reported by GameBiz, the company announced the results: 154 people applied, resulting in an expected total of 5.4 billion yen (approx. $33.6 million USD) being paid out in severance costs. Employees that volunteered are expected to leave their positions at Kadokawa by July 31st.
The company plans to report this as an extraordinary loss in its financial report for the first quarter of this fiscal year.
Despite the initial cost, Kadokawa estimates that the downsizing achieved by this initiative will result in annual personnel costs being greatly reduced by up to 1.7 billion yen (approx. $10.6 million USD), with the remainder of the current fiscal year ending March 2027 seeing a reduction of 1.1 billion yen (approx. $6.8 million USD) meaning that the savings should offset this year’s steep investment by the end of the decade.
Kadokawa has found itself in several batches of hot water this year, including declining profits in the publishing industry due to the oversaturation of isekai titles, and the alleged violation of the Freelancers Protection Act. Furthermore, the company has also been under intense pressure from foreign activist investors. Most recently, Hong-Kong based investment fund Oasis Management has been aggressively buying Kadokawa’s shares, currently owning a 15.25% stake in the company as its largest shareholder, and has already made attempts to oust its CEO.
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