About 350 sales and marketing staff employed in Toyota’s corporate office in Sydney will have to choose between relocating to Melbourne or receiving redundancy package as the Japanese carmaker moves forward with plans to shrink its workforce from 3,900 to 1,300 by 2017.
According to the Australian, Toyota said in a statement that it will consolidate corporate functions in Melbourne and close its Sydney operations to improve global competitiveness.
It said there would be a significant reduction in corporate support roles and revealed that the four Toyota parts centres located throughout the country will undergo major reforms.
“The decision to consolidate our corporate operations to Melbourne supports our long-term vision and will assist us in improving business efficiency, increase collaboration and reduce operating costs. The intention is that the relocation will be aligned to the end of manufacturing and we will encourage our Sydney-based employees to move to Melbourne,” Toyota Australia president Dave Buttner said.
“Relocation will also be required for the regional offices that support the dealer network in NSW, Victoria and Tasmania, as well as the company’s product planning and development, and national service functions, which will move from Port Melbourne to Altona.”
Toyota announced in February that it would strip its Australian operations down to sales and distribution functions by 2017, citing high production costs and a strong Australian dollar as reasons behind the decision to cease production.
