Toyota has an-nounced plans to implement additional measures at its North American manufacturing plants to further reduce production in the midst of what it called “the worst automotive slump in decades.”
In late 2008, Toyota announced plans to eliminate overtime, suspend capital spending, freeze hiring and schedule periodic non-production days. Last month, the company said it would be taking additional steps in order to protect jobs during the sales slump.
Those measures include scheduling additional non-production days, eliminating executive and salaried bonuses, pay cuts for executives, reduced bonuses for production team employees, and no wage increases for the foreseeable future.
A voluntary exit program has been extended to employees who want to pursue other opportunities, and the company has also said there is a “strong possibility” of reduced work/pay weeks, whereby employees at affected plants would work and be paid for 72 hours instead of 80 during the two-week pay period.
“We’ve taken responsible, step-by-step actions to address this issue in recent months, and we hope the new measures will help us adjust while protecting jobs,” said Jim Wiseman, vice president of external affairs for Toyota Motor Engineering & Manufacturing North America (TEMA). “This philosophy of shared sacrifice is the best approach for us, and hopefully will make us a stronger company in the long term.”
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