Toyota says it has asked its Japanese workers to slash salaries in order to help recoup losses incurred by halted production in response to curbed worldwide demand. The automaker says that the size of the pay cut hasn’t been decided, but under Japanese law, companies must pay at least 60 percent of the average regular wages during production stopages.
Earlier this week, Toyota announced that it will idle production at all 12 of its Japanese plants for 11 days, an unprecedented move for the automaker.
The talks are currently under way and a formal announcement is expected by the end of this week. Toyota employs about 70,000 full-time staff in Japan who, like workers at many major corporations in Japan, are generally protected with lifetime employment, according to the Associated Press.
