Shusaku Tani is employed at the Sony plant here, but he doesn’t really work.
For more than two years, he has come to a small room, taken a seat and then passed the time reading newspapers, browsing the Web and poring over engineering textbooks from his college days. He files a report on his activities at the end of each day.
Sony, Mr. Tani’s employer of 32 years, consigned him to this room because they can’t get rid of him. Sony had eliminated his position at the Sony Sendai Technology Center, which in better times produced magnetic tapes for videos and cassettes. But Mr. Tani, 51, refused to take an early retirement offer from Sony in late 2010 — his prerogative under Japanese labor law.
While details to the government plans are still being determined, Mr. Tani’s managers at Sony are already upping the ante. Starting this month, the company has ordered him to work 12-hour shifts on an assembly line at a Sony plant in Toyosato, more than an hour’s drive away. He says he will comply.
I guess Sony buyers should hope that poor, 51-year old Tani-san is not assembling their new camera or lens.
A company that cares about producing quality products doesn't do this. Of course, this is punishment for Tani-san but no matter what you think about that why in the world would Sony punish him in a way that has such potential for punishing their customers with faulty products? Probably Tani-san and people like him won't deliberately sabotage the stuff they are building, but 51 years old, unhappy, and 12 hour shifts on the line, etc. is not a recipe for quality assembly.
