Mazda said today it would cut salaries for white-collar workers in Japan to reduce costs amid a slide in global car sales.
Directors will return 20 per cent of their pay retroactively from December, while middle-managers will have their salaries reduced by an undisclosed amount from January, a spokeswoman said.
Non-factory workers will have two days off every month at reduced pay, effective immediately. Mazda plans to keep the measures in place through the business year to March 2010, she said.
Automakers everywhere are having to stop or slow down production to reflect a fall in car purchases.
Mazda, the maker of Mazda3/Axela compact and other cars, has mapped out plans to reduce vehicle production by at least 148,000 units on a net basis from its initial plan to build 1,096,000 vehicles during the business year to March 31st, 2009.
As part of that plan, it said it would cancel one shift at two of its domestic factories in February while resuming the night shift at two others. Production will be suspended on Fridays in February and March, reducing the work week to four days, it said in a statement.
Reuters