Toyota To Test 'Half-Time' Program For Retirement-Age Workers

NAGOYA (Nikkei)--Toyota Motor Corp. (7203) will launch in July a pilot program that allows employees reaching the retirement age of 60 to stay on the job, but for half the hours.

The so-called half-time program will likely offer workers a choice of working a morning or afternoon shift, or every other day, for instance. Toyota will test the program for one year at two domestic plants before deciding whether to implement it in earnest.

The automaker has also begun exploring a new program to supplement the income of individuals aged 60-65, who may not have access to employee pension benefits because of gradual increases to age eligibility. The program would supplement defined-benefit pensions, offering a combined 210,000 yen a month or so.

Toyota will work out specifics with labor, targeting a rollout in fiscal 2014.

(The Nikkei, March 23 morning edition)

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