Toyota Reported to Cut Jobs

If it happens in Japan, it may happen here in Torrance.

Report: Toyota to slash temporary workers to zero

TOKYO (AP) -- Toyota Motor Corp. is slashing its temporary workers in Japan to zero later this year to cut costs and production amid a global slump, the Yomiuri newspaper reported Tuesday.

Toyota said nothing has been decided.

The maker of the Lexus luxury car and Prius hybrid said last month that its temporary work force in Japan will be reduced from 6,000 to about 3,000 by March.

Japanese rivals Honda Motor Co. and Nissan Motor Co. have already said their Japanese temporary workers will be gone over the next few months.

Terminating contracts for temporary workers is the easiest way in Japan to lay off workers because regular workers called "seishain," or "proper company employees," are protected at major companies with lifetime employment.