Financially troubled Kenwood Corp. said Friday it plans to cut 550 jobs from its workforce by Sept. 30 through a voluntary retirement program.
The program is intended to help Kenwood achieve a target, announced in July, of slashing 3,000 jobs from its group workforce, with 600 coming from the parent firm. The program is targeting workers aged 30 and over on regular payrolls.
The parent workforce is expected to shrink to 1,740 by Sept. 30, marking a reduction of 625 from six months earlier, including workers reaching mandatory retirement age, the firm said.
Sources close to Kenwood and its creditors said Thursday that Asahi Bank and other lenders are discussing a 20 billion yen bailout for Kenwood that would wipe out 17 billion yen in negative net worth as of March 31.