Toyota Japan Lays Off Temporary Workers
By Ward’s Staff From Wires
WardsAuto.com

A unit of Toyota Motor Corp. reportedly has laid off workers at a plant in Kyushu, Japan, which makes hybrid-electric vehicle versions of the Lexus RX and Toyota Highlander cross/utility vehicles for the U.S. market.

Some 800 temporary employees, 10% of Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc.’s total workforce, were laid off in June and August due to the slumping U.S. new-vehicle market, reports say.

The Kyushu subsidiary also builds non-HEV versions of the RX and Highlander, as well as the Lexus IS and ES models, for shipment to the U.S.

A spokesperson for the plant tells Dow Jones Newswires the auto maker will rehire 500 of the workers in the fall.

It reportedly is the largest employment reduction at the plant since it opened in 1992.

The action follows a Toyota decision last month to suspend production for three months at its San Antonio, TX, truck plant.

Toyota already has eliminated all of its temporary U.S. assembly line workers, company spokesman Mike Goss told Ward’s.

Toyota’s U.S. sales have been down or flat for 13 consecutive months, Ward’s data shows, falling 18.7% in July.

http://wardsauto.com/home/toyota_plant_lays/

 

temp workers

 

The economy is effecting everyone, this is just more proof. Lexus/Toyota are not immune to the downturn, neither is any other mass produced automaker. When times are tough, many people just simply are not even going to consider looking at buying new cars and trucks.

 

An Associated Press article appearing in The Detroit News adds more background and information:

Toyota lays off 800 line workers at Japan plant
by Yuri Kageyama

Japanese automaker Toyota has laid off 800 people at a plant in southwestern Japan, or about 10 percent of the plant's work force, in response to declining sales in North America, a company official said Tuesday.

All the job cuts -- carried out in June and August at Toyota Motor Corp.'s wholly owned subsidiary Toyota Motor Kyushu -- applied to workers sent by job-referral agencies. Japanese companies are increasingly relying on such agencies for temporary workers called "haken" to be flexible to market demand.

Prior to the layoffs, Toyota Motor Kyushu, which makes Lexus luxury models, had employed 8,200 workers -- 1,950 of them haken -- an official said on condition of anonymity, citing company policy.

Many Japanese companies demand individual names be left out of comments to the media even if they are official spokespeople.

The official said the job cuts were temporary and 500 haken workers will be brought back later this year. He declined to comment on why they would be needed back, saying product plans can't be released.

The shift to temporary workers or haken marks a change for major Japanese companies, including Toyota, which used to encourage corporate loyalty among its ranks by offering lifetime employment. Haken agencies have become booming businesses but have set off a spate of social problems such as poverty and discontent, especially among the young.

The trend toward these temporary workers drew alarm in Japan when a disgruntled haken employee at a Toyota affiliate went on stabbing spree in June in a crowded Tokyo shopping district, killing seven and injuring 10.

The remarks of Tomohiro Kato, the 25-year-old haken worker, expressing frustrations about job stability and getting treated with no respect, added to the public worries about the trend.

Toyota, which employs about 12,000 contract and haken workers, about 15 percent of its 80,000-strong work force in Japan, issued a condolence statement for the crime victims at that time.

Toyota has avoided the losses of its U.S. counterparts like General Motors Corp. and Ford Motor Co. But it is projecting its first full-year profit drop in seven years for this fiscal year through March 2009. Toyota reports first fiscal quarter earnings Thursday.

Last month, Toyota lowered its global vehicle sales plan for this year by 350,000 vehicles to 9.5 million vehicles, blaming the sluggish North American market. The pace of Toyota's growth has been slowing to a 1 percent gain this year in contrast to a 6 percent climb in 2007.

Toyota saw its U.S. vehicle sales plunge 12 percent in July on year as it struggled to keep up with consumers' growing demand for smaller, more fuel-efficient vehicles.

http://detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/art...808050399/1148

 

Everyone I ever worked with at Toyota was a Temp for as much as 10 years
That's why I stoped trying to get a job there

 

Obviously you woulnd't be surprised how may companies do this today. I don't have the statistics but even the little hiring we do sees resumes that are mainly temp workers. And that is from high school degree through doctoral level candidates. And companies do it just to be able to have a RIF with minimal concern and fallout.

 

Get rid of 800 and hire 500 back in a few month's I just do not get it. or is it the typical way where I work get rid of all temp's and a few hourly people then rehire most temps again and make a few permanent. Remember temp's have no benefits at all so they are cheap labor.

 

From a quick google search, it showed that minimum wage in Japan is about $50 a day.

800 workers x $50 x 90 days = roughly $3.6 mil

It makes a lot of sense.

 

temp workers don't necessarily get the minimum wage...
a lot of 'temp workers', such as contractors, make a lot more than full-time employees.. not sure if thats the case here..