Large companies announce workforce reduction plans
Japanese electric companies have recently
announced their personnel restructuring
plans
in rapid succession, drawing widespread
public
interest.
One company has become the focus of
particular
attention: Matsushita Electric Industrial,
a company that championed Japan's lifelong
employment system ever since it was
founded
by Konosuke Matsushita, announced its
first-ever
personnel downsizing plan on July 31.
The
announcement sent shock waves throughout
Japan since it was a major turnaround
for
Matsushita, a company that represented
the
so-called Japanese corporate management
style
that had propelled Japan on its path
to a
dramatic postwar recovery.
In the case of NEC, immediately after
the
labor union decided to discontinue,
as of
August 2001, collecting reserve funds
to
prepare for future strikes, the company
unveiled
a plan to eliminate 3,000 to 4,000
workers
in the semiconductor and electronic
parts
departments.
Competition is intensifying in the
slumping
IT-related industry. The two companies'
drastic
workforce reduction plans show that
they
were forced to make harsher projections
for
the future.