Nissan, Honda to cut hiring of new graduates for spring 2010

TOKYO, Feb. 12 Kyodo - Nissan Motor Co. and Honda Motor Co. will drastically reduce the number of new graduates they will hire in spring 2010 as Japanese auto giants reel from a global auto sales slump and a sharp appreciation of the yen, company officials said Thursday.

In similar developments, motorcycle maker Yamaha Motor Co. and electronics
manufacturer Pioneer Corp. also plan to reduce their workforces.
Nissan will cut the number of new graduates that it will employ in spring 2010
to several dozens, company officials said. This spring, the automaker plans to
employ about 580 new graduates.
The number for spring 2010 will be even smaller than 157 in April 2000 when
Nissan was experiencing severe financial difficulties.
On Monday, the third-largest Japanese automaker said it will cut its worldwide
workforce by 8.5 percent, or 20,000 people including 12,000 in Japan. It then
slashed its earnings forecast for the 2008 business year ending next month to a
group net loss of 265 billion yen, its first red ink since Carlos Ghosn joined
its management a decade ago.
Honda said Thursday it will slash the number of new graduates it will hire by
40 percent from a total of 1,490 this April to 890 in spring 2010. Last month,
the second-largest Japanese automaker lowered its earnings projection for the
year for the fourth time.
Yamaha plans to reduce the number of its nonregular employees to zero by this
summer from some 900 at the end of last year, company officials said.
Pioneer said it will cut a total of 10,000 jobs worldwide after it eliminated
some 5,900 jobs in the March to December period last year to bring down its
group workforce to about 36,900.
==Kyodo