Toyota Motor Corp. introduced temporary workers on its production lines Thursday following a legal change last month that made it possible to do so.
"The company will hire between 500 and 1,000 temporary workers by the end of this month," Toyota spokeswoman Nami Kanda said.
The revised worker dispatch law, which took effect March 1, enables manufacturers for the first time to place temporary workers on their production lines.
The move is intended to "better cope with short-term changes in vehicle production plans," Kanda said.
She said Toyota has recently boosted the number of contract workers to around 8,500 from some 5,000 to deal with rising overseas demand for its cars, including the new Prius.
The introduction of temporary workers and contract workers is designed to quickly deal with sharp rises in demand, she said.
Hiring temporary workers is less costly than hiring contract workers because companies do not have to pay social insurance premiums for them. The payment is made by the staffing agencies.