Toyota to halve FY 2009 recruitment from FY 2008 level to 1,400+

NAGOYA, March 19 Kyodo -
Toyota Motor Corp. said Thursday it plans to nearly halve recruitment in fiscal
2009 from the year before to around 1,400 to reduce personnel costs as the
earnings of the nation's top automaker sharply deteriorate amid the global auto
sales slump.
If realized, it would be the first time in seven years that Toyota's
recruitment has fallen below 2,000. In fiscal 2008, Toyota newly employed
2,733.
Including mid-career workers and promotion of Toyota's current temporary
workers to regular workers, cuts in new hiring will total 1,800, company
officials said.
Other major automakers like Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. also plan to
implement large-scale cutbacks of their hiring.
Toyota plans to sharply cut recruitment of engineers straight out of school,
which had been at a high level. It also plans to reduce the number of temporary
factory workers to be promoted to regular workers due to slower production.
Given sagging demand for vehicles amid the global economic slump and the yen's
steep appreciation, which erodes overseas earnings, Toyota projects its first
group net loss in decades in this fiscal year.
Of its smaller domestic rivals, Honda plans to cut its recruitment of new
graduates for the spring of 2010 by 40 percent from this spring to 890, while
Nissan plans to cut its hiring to several dozens from this year's 580 or so new
graduates.
==Kyodo
2009-03-19 19:38:27