세계적인 기술경기의 하락추세로 인해 일본의 후지쯔사는 워크세어링을 도입하고 있다. 영국의 파이낸셜타임즈는 2002년 1월9일자 신문에 이를 소개하고 있다.
워크세어링은 최근 독일 폭스바겐과 네들란드의 성공사례의 확산으로 인해 일본에서도 이에 대한 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있으며, 한국에서도 이에 대한 찬반논의가 대두되고 있는 시점에서 후지쯔사의 워크세어링도입은 주의깊게 볼 필요가 있을 것 같다.
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Fujitsu starts staff work-sharing to cut costs
By Alexandra Harney in Tokyo - Jan 09 2002 16:55:26
Fujitsu, the Japanese chipmaker, is to slash working hours and offer extended holidays to nearly 5,000 of its employees to offset effects of the global technology downturn.
The plan, which will affect employees at three domestic semiconductor plants, is the highest-profile example yet of Japanese-style "work-sharing", whereby rather than lay off staff, a company cuts their hours to reduce its labour costs.
Work-sharinghas become prominent in Japan as business leaders and policymakers look for ways to cut costs without fuelling growing unemployment. The jobless rate rose to a record 5.5 per cent in November, with 3.5m people out of work.
Several Japanese companies are considering work-sharing schemes or plan to implement them. Last month Sanyo Electric said it would introduce the programme to 30,000 workers.
Following negotiations with union leaders, Fujitsu intends to reduce shifts from 12 to eight hours for workers at factories in Iwate, Fukushima and Mie, and offer employees holidays of up to one year, starting in April. It was not clear what types of training programmes would be available to workers.
The company said the impetus for the plan was semiconductor prices, which have collapsed. "It's really the silicon cycle, to be able to respond flexibly," an official said.
Fujitsu, like most chipmakers, is expecting heavy losses this year. It recorded a net loss of Y174.7bn ($1.32bn) in the first half and in December announced the closure of a chip plant in Gresham, Oregon. The closure followed 21,000 job cuts, most of them outside Japan.
---------------------------
Related stories : Jobs safe under incoming Fujitsu Siemens chief
No jobs are to be axed at Fujitsu Siemens Computers in spite of "weak market conditions", its incoming chief executive said on Wednesday.
Adrian von Hammerstein, who took the helm of Europe's second-biggest computer manufacturer last month, said: "No reductions in headcount are planned. In fact, we are recruiting in parts of our business." The company is in the process of recruiting 400 people to its enterprise servers and sales business.
Mr von Hammerstein said he expected Fujitsu Siemens, a joint venture between Fujitsu of Japan and Siemens of Germany, to turn a profit for the year ending March 31, in spite of the weak market.
In 2000, the company made a pre-tax loss of E70.9m on revenues of E5.89bn, and in the six months to September 30 reported a pre-tax profit of E3m ($2.6m) on revenues of E2.5bn, down 4 per cent on the previous year.
Under Mr von Hammerstein, who served as chief financial officer at Fujitsu Siemens until his promotion in December, the company will concentrate its efforts at the high end of the server market and build up a professional services business to support this technology.
"Servers and storage will see healthy growth and there continue to be exciting opportunities in the mobile market, from notebooks to PDAs [personal digital assistants]," he added.
However, the company will also continue to produce desktop PCs, which Mr von Hammerstein described as "a bread-and-butter business for some time to come". Dropping margins and declining growth in the desktop PC market have left manufacturers such as Dell, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard reeling.
However, Mr von Hammerstein saw a ray of light in the consumer PC market, which he said was "surprisingly strong".
"We have kept out of the price wars our competitors have engaged in, but there is secular margin decline," he acknowledged, which he said the company would compensate for by productivity improvements, such as greater efficiencies in the supply chain.
Mr von Hammerstein replaced Paul Stodden, who was credited with turning Fujitsu Siemens round after heavy losses and went on to become chief executive at Siemens Business Services.
워크세어링은 최근 독일 폭스바겐과 네들란드의 성공사례의 확산으로 인해 일본에서도 이에 대한 많은 연구가 이루어지고 있으며, 한국에서도 이에 대한 찬반논의가 대두되고 있는 시점에서 후지쯔사의 워크세어링도입은 주의깊게 볼 필요가 있을 것 같다.
---------------------------------------------------------
Fujitsu starts staff work-sharing to cut costs
By Alexandra Harney in Tokyo - Jan 09 2002 16:55:26
Fujitsu, the Japanese chipmaker, is to slash working hours and offer extended holidays to nearly 5,000 of its employees to offset effects of the global technology downturn.
The plan, which will affect employees at three domestic semiconductor plants, is the highest-profile example yet of Japanese-style "work-sharing", whereby rather than lay off staff, a company cuts their hours to reduce its labour costs.
Work-sharinghas become prominent in Japan as business leaders and policymakers look for ways to cut costs without fuelling growing unemployment. The jobless rate rose to a record 5.5 per cent in November, with 3.5m people out of work.
Several Japanese companies are considering work-sharing schemes or plan to implement them. Last month Sanyo Electric said it would introduce the programme to 30,000 workers.
Following negotiations with union leaders, Fujitsu intends to reduce shifts from 12 to eight hours for workers at factories in Iwate, Fukushima and Mie, and offer employees holidays of up to one year, starting in April. It was not clear what types of training programmes would be available to workers.
The company said the impetus for the plan was semiconductor prices, which have collapsed. "It's really the silicon cycle, to be able to respond flexibly," an official said.
Fujitsu, like most chipmakers, is expecting heavy losses this year. It recorded a net loss of Y174.7bn ($1.32bn) in the first half and in December announced the closure of a chip plant in Gresham, Oregon. The closure followed 21,000 job cuts, most of them outside Japan.
---------------------------
Related stories : Jobs safe under incoming Fujitsu Siemens chief
No jobs are to be axed at Fujitsu Siemens Computers in spite of "weak market conditions", its incoming chief executive said on Wednesday.
Adrian von Hammerstein, who took the helm of Europe's second-biggest computer manufacturer last month, said: "No reductions in headcount are planned. In fact, we are recruiting in parts of our business." The company is in the process of recruiting 400 people to its enterprise servers and sales business.
Mr von Hammerstein said he expected Fujitsu Siemens, a joint venture between Fujitsu of Japan and Siemens of Germany, to turn a profit for the year ending March 31, in spite of the weak market.
In 2000, the company made a pre-tax loss of E70.9m on revenues of E5.89bn, and in the six months to September 30 reported a pre-tax profit of E3m ($2.6m) on revenues of E2.5bn, down 4 per cent on the previous year.
Under Mr von Hammerstein, who served as chief financial officer at Fujitsu Siemens until his promotion in December, the company will concentrate its efforts at the high end of the server market and build up a professional services business to support this technology.
"Servers and storage will see healthy growth and there continue to be exciting opportunities in the mobile market, from notebooks to PDAs [personal digital assistants]," he added.
However, the company will also continue to produce desktop PCs, which Mr von Hammerstein described as "a bread-and-butter business for some time to come". Dropping margins and declining growth in the desktop PC market have left manufacturers such as Dell, Compaq and Hewlett-Packard reeling.
However, Mr von Hammerstein saw a ray of light in the consumer PC market, which he said was "surprisingly strong".
"We have kept out of the price wars our competitors have engaged in, but there is secular margin decline," he acknowledged, which he said the company would compensate for by productivity improvements, such as greater efficiencies in the supply chain.
Mr von Hammerstein replaced Paul Stodden, who was credited with turning Fujitsu Siemens round after heavy losses and went on to become chief executive at Siemens Business Services.
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