More and more firms are stepping up downsizing programs by transferring staff to subsidiaries or offering generous retirement deals, according to a survey released Saturday by Japan's largest trade union group.

Large companies especially are giving workers heavier workloads, generally, without improving wages or benefits, according to the survey, conducted by the Japanese Trade Union Confederation (Rengo).

Rengo, which represents 8 million workers, asked 4,423 member unions in December and January to respond to questionnaires about working conditions in 1999.

"Although the Japan Federation of Employers Associations (Nikkeiren) insists that employers now have to put priority on maintaining employment levels rather than on approving wage-hike demands, they have already begun to adjust employment levels," Rengo said.

Nikkeiren, headed by Toyota Motor Corp. Chairman Hiroshi Okuda, is Japan's largest employers' organization. Rengo is led by Etsuya Washio.

The poll found that only 45 percent of unions said their members have not experienced any form of downsizing, down sharply from 73 percent in the survey for working conditions in 1998.

Corporate downsizing refers to a range of measures taken by employers to counteract the slumping economy, including cutbacks in overtime work, reductions in the numbers of new part-time employees and transferring workers from parent firms to subsidiaries and affiliates.

Of the survey's responding unions, 23 percent said members' companies have put limits on overtime, while 15 percent said companies are encouraging workers to quit before the arrival of mandatory retirement ages by offering retirement incentives.

The survey also found that 13 percent of unions said their companies stopped hiring part-time or irregular workers.

The survey found that 12 percent of unions said their employers transferred workers to subsidiaries or affiliates on either a temporary or permanent basis, while 57 percent said their companies cut back on regularly paid staff, up from 49 percent in the previous poll.

Fifty-eight percent of respondents said their members faced tougher working conditions, compared with 46 percent in the previous poll, while 51 percent of unions said their members are now required to meet a broader range of professional duties. The figure compares with 42 percent in the previous poll.

The bigger the company, the deeper cuts in the number of workers on regular payrolls, the survey found.

Bigger companies also tended to impose tougher working conditions on staff, according to the poll.