Department store operator Mitsukoshi Ltd. is considering a large cut in its workforce before the March end of the current business year in response to a rapid financial deterioration that started last fall, industry sources said Thursday.

The cut could be similar to Mitsukoshi's reductions of 600 to 800 jobs in both 1999 and 2005, they said.

Mitsukoshi, owned by Isetan Mitsukoshi Holdings Ltd., currently has around 6,000 regular employees.

The firm plans to implement the reduction by expanding its existing voluntary retirement incentive program, the sources said. The company is now in talks with its labor union.