YKK AP Inc., a major building supplies maker, will dismiss 1,000 temporary and other nonregular workers, or 20 percent of such staff, by next spring, company officials said Thursday.
Temp workers will be retained until the expiration of their current employment contracts, but will not have their contracts renewed, according to the officials.
The company will also study closing up to 10 of its 34 domestic factories by March 2013, as stricter regulations on the construction of earthquake-resistant houses and the recession have combined to hit the company's business badly, they said.
The company's main manufacturing plants in Miyagi, Toyama, Kagawa and Kumamoto prefectures will remain in operation to consolidate production into larger facilities and enhance operational efficiency, the officials added.