The new graduates will be dispatched to auto factories in Aichi Prefecture to cover labor shortages, they said. It will be the first time for new graduates to be mobilized as factory workers since February 1990 during Japan's asset-inflated bubble economy.
It is rare for all of the automaker's new graduates to be assigned to factories as college graduates enter the company as white-collar workers or engineers.
Toyota has decided to use the new graduates to supplement factory workforces rather than to hire more temporary workers as it is uncertain whether current buoyant sales of fuel-efficient cars such as the Prius gas-electric hybrid will continue.
A senior Toyota official said, "We are not in a situation in which we can drastically increase employees." The operating rates of Toyota factories have been picking up recently on the back of subsidies and tax breaks for fuel-efficient cars implemented by governments around the world.
To see more of Kyodo News International, go to http://www.kyodonews.com Copyright (c) 2009, Kyodo News International, Tokyo Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services. For reprints, email tmsreprints@permissionsgroup.com, call 800-374-7985 or 847-635-6550, send a fax to 847-635-6968, or write to The Permissions Group Inc., 1247 Milwaukee Ave., Suite 303, Glenview, IL 60025, USA.

More News:
Market Updates |
Stock Alerts |
All Trading News |
Stock Index