Honda to cut jobs in UK, Japan amid global slump

TOKYO - Honda is cutting jobs in Great Britain and Japan because of plunging auto demand, Japan's second-biggest automaker said Thursday.

Honda Motor Co. has offered an early retirement package for workers at its U.K. plant, although the number of workers to be cut has not been disclosed.

Honda is also reducing 760 temporary workers, or nearly 18 percent of its Japan temporary work force of 4,300, at four plants, including one motorcycle plant, this month and next month in response to nose-diving demand in the U.S. and other key markets, said company spokesman Hideto Maehara.

Besides the temporary workers, Tokyo-based Honda employs more than 27,000 people in Japan.

Honda declined to say how the job reductions will affect vehicle production plans.

Major Japanese companies hire temporary workers, who do not have full benefits, to cut costs and adjust production.

Layoffs at established Japanese companies are relatively rare compared to the West and are viewed as damaging for corporate image because of this nation's historical system of lifetime employment.

Toyota Motor Corp., based in Toyota city, central Japan, is lowering production in Japan, stopping production for a day at a parts plant, and suspending some production at two other plants.

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