Pioneer Corp. has proposed to its labor union that wages be reduced for all its roughly 5,000 employees for two years, starting April 1 to counteract a weaker earnings performance, company officials said Thursday.
The proposal calls for conducting a 10 percent cut for employees who are in managerial posts of section chief or higher, they said.
How sharply the wages of rank and file employees will be reduced is to be determined in talks between the union and management, they said.
The proposal marks the first time the major electronics company has tried to cut rank-and-file employees' wages. The company cut wages of managerial employees between November 2005 and September 2006.
Pioneer expects to incur a group net loss of ¥78 billion in the year to March 31.
Last September, it arranged a voluntary retirement program, calling for its employees to quit before they reached mandatory retirement age. Three hundred employees applied for the program.