Japan Tobacco Inc said on Wednesday it would cut 1,600 workers, or nearly 20 per cent of its workforce, and shut down four factories amid slumping sales of cigarettes.
“Our Japanese domestic tobacco business operates in an increasingly challenging environment, mainly due to consecutive tobacco tax increases, tightening of smoking-related regulations, growing health consciousness and an ageing society,” the company said in a statement.
The lay-offs are to be made by March 2015, three factories are to be closed by the same time and the fourth factory by March 2016, said one of the world’s largest cigarette makers, whose brands include Camel, Winston, and Benson & Hedges.
The tobacco market in Japan has shrunk 40 per cent since its peak in the 1996 fiscal year, the Nikkei business daily said.
Japan Tobacco had 31 domestic plants in 2002, but falling demand has prompted the company to close many of those facilities. Five would remain after the latest closures.