Toyota announced on Tuesday that it has offered a “voluntary exit package” to some of its U.S. employees while the company licks its wounds after frequent recalls with performance and safety issues with its products, a congressional investigation, record federal fines, and lawsuits over the sudden acceleration of its cars. Toyota is seeking to reduce staff by an unspecified number.
What’s interesting is that U.S. automakers are making an economic comeback in recent months. Auto sales rose 17 percent last month amounting to more than 800,000 units for an encouraging sign of recovery. And late last month, General Motors withdrew their need for a 14.4 billion government loan because they had raised enough cash with their 2010 public offering. Even Toyota has seen a 23.7 percent rise in sales since the same time last year; however, Lexus sales were down 17.1 percent.
"This voluntary program is part of an ongoing process of evaluating our operations and aligning them with our future growth," said Toyota in a statement. "It will allow for further restructuring."
The automaker said "there is no specific target for the number of associates who will participate in this voluntary program." Media reports have said though that Toyota is trying to trim about 600 of the 6,100 workers at its U.S. headquarters, making for about 10 percent.
An exit package has been offered to volunteers as a “transition assistance payment” of $20,000, two weeks’ salary for each year of employment, plus a lump sum equal to 10 weeks of salary. Who wouldn’t want to take this offer up? The severance package is being offered to managers in the automotive operations group and managers in the customer services division.
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