Panasonic orders 10,000 employees to buy its products by July

Friday 13th February, 02:58 PM JST

The requested article has expired, and is no longer available. Any related articles, and user comments are shown below.

› Login to comment

Latest 15 of 57 Total Comments Show All

OssanAmerica at 12:49 AM JST - 14th February

HaHa, When a J-pan company says it, its not supposed to smell as bad, so >nothing is wronge with it and America should fell bad..

America has nothing to do with a Japanese Company's internal policies toward it's own empoyees.
meguro at 01:37 AM JST - 14th February

this is crazy !!!! whatta !!!
usaexpat at 01:43 AM JST - 14th February

Yeah buy a new TV then we'll lay you off. Sounds good where do I sign up? Another exapmle of how screwed up business practices are in our brave new world.
Steveone at 06:02 AM JST - 14th February

I am amazed at some of the vitriolic comments written about Panasonic asking its 'managerial' employees to buy Panasonic products. You are obviously not aware of the company's business philosophy and history, otherwise you would understand why it does these things. In my opinion, if the rest of our global society behaved with the same values as Panasonic (aka Matsushita Electrical Industrial) the world would not be in the mess its in now. Loyalty seems to be something that the rest of this planet has forgotten.
AlfGarnett at 07:33 AM JST - 14th February

A job is your job like. It aint like family , where you have responsibilities above your job description.

If Panasonic want better sales, then sell better stuff and put the bleeding prices down.
norinrad21 at 07:49 AM JST - 14th February

Ideas for life
presto345 at 07:49 PM JST - 14th February

A job is your job like. It aint like family , where you have responsibilities above your job description.

You are so misguided. You seem to forget the job is what supports you and your family and think there are plenty of other opportunities. Put it to the test and see where it leaves you - and your family, particularly in times like these. Companies in Japan, traditionally in return for life long employment, expect loyalty from their employees, which looks to me like a fair trade off. It may not fit in the philosophy of the typical western worker with the 'screw the company' attitude. The evidence of the inability to see beyond the end of one's nose.
buddha4brains at 08:57 AM JST - 15th February

An employer cant tell its employees what to buy and when to buy it. The whole basis of liberalism is having the right to choose,

And the choice is? How about having or not having a job? What good is any -ism liberal or otherwise if you can't put food on the table? If providing for my family means supporting my own company from my wallet, then that's what I do because there are precious few other options these days (unless you're a Wall St. banker of course).
aintgottimetobl at 01:55 PM JST - 15th February

parting with 200,000 yen from an 8 million a year managerial position doesnt seem to be nearly as bad as being chopped,I'd pay and shut up..
flammenwerfer at 05:08 PM JST - 15th February

Lucky its panasonic - I like panasonic and have lots of their goods anyway. Would suck if you worked at an Electronics company that produced overpriced (i.e sony ) or just plain mediocre goods (i.e Sanyo). Could be worse.

besides this is just an extension of the bonus system they had last year where Panasonic workers got a bonus only if they spent it Panasonic goods.
taikan at 04:22 AM JST - 16th February

Rather than thinking of this as an infringement of the employees' rights, think of it as a means of avoiding layoffs by slightly reducing each employee's salary/wages on a one-time basis. Managers have their salaries reduced by 200,000 yen (less the value of the goods purchased for that amount), and lower level workers have their salaries reduced by 100,000 yen (less the value of the goods purchased by them). Production levels do not have to be reduced (at least not any more than they already may have been reduced) because the excess products are being purchased by the employees, and therefore layoffs can be avoided, at least temporarily.
Kronos at 10:15 AM JST - 16th February

That's only about 3% of its total employees. Duh... - Number11

3% of its employees globally. The news does not specify but implies that the "buy order" is only given in Japan. It would be difficult to order your employees globally to purchase your goods. If we consider Japan only, 10,000 managerial level employees looked high and hence the comment.
frontandcentre at 01:27 PM JST - 16th February

I would rather be asked to buy something from my company than be asked to take a pay cut
fillmore at 01:38 PM JST - 16th February

you guys are complaining about " Buy USA" program and do the same stuff in Japan. very disappointed,,,,
m5c32 at 03:48 PM JST - 18th February

On the surface, this seems like an alright idea -buy company products to prop-up the company. However, it's your earned salary, you should be able to choose where to spend it. If they made good enough products, people (employees) would not have to be "persuaded" to buy "local", as it were. What would happen if/when all other companies were to start the same tactic and people (employees) had fewer disposable earnings for products exo-firma? It becomes a useless (and (self-)destructive) tactic.