Toyota Motor Corp. said Wednesday it will cut the summer bonuses of managers in Japan by 60 percent from the previous year as it braces to report its first loss in almost six decades.
The reduction will affect about 8,900 employees, spokesman Toshiaki Hori said in a telephone interview. The bonus, which will be paid in July, is given for the year that ended on March 31.
Toyota plans to cut fixed costs by 10 percent, or about ¥500 billion, this fiscal year as the global crisis cripples car demand. The company has already decided to eliminate board member bonuses and agreed with its labor union to reduce the annual bonus by 26 percent.
"The company can't avoid reducing pay," said Koichi Ogawa, chief portfolio manager at Daiwa SB Investments Ltd. in Tokyo. "It will help cope with the slump and create a sense of crisis among employees."
The amount of bonuses for managers last fiscal year will be reduced by 40 percent after they accepted a 10 percent cut in December, the company said. Toyota hasn't decided on the payment for this fiscal year, Hori said.
Toyota's net loss may total ¥350 billion for the year that ended March 31, compared with a record profit a year earlier, the company said in February. It will report earnings on May 8.
In March, the company, based in Toyota, Aichi Prefecture, agreed with its labor union to offer ¥1.86 million as an annual bonus for this year, compared with ¥2.53 million a year earlier.