Fujitsu Ltd. said Wednesday it plans to have some 5,000 employees take leave from work for periods ranging from a few months to a year as part of a work-sharing plan to cut personnel costs amid a slump in the information technology sector.
The nation's largest computer manufacturer plans to introduce the temporary-leave system for workers at its three semiconductor plants in Iwate, Fukushima and Mie prefectures, company officials said.
Similar work-sharing plans have been introduced by Hitachi Ltd. and Toshiba Corp., both of which have also been affected by the IT slump.
Fujitsu will present the plan to its trade union and hopes to start it in the spring, the officials said.
Workers put on temporary leave will have their pay cut by about 40 percent, they said. Employees will be allowed to choose the length of their breaks, which the company hopes will be used to undergo training and obtain qualifications useful for work, according to the officials.
Surplus workers will then perform the work done by the workers who take the leave.
Fujitsu will adopt the envisaged system only at times of a slump in the semiconductor market, the officials said.
In another move to cut costs, the company is also considering reducing by two-thirds the working hours of employees by changing their work shifts, they said.