Japan\'s TEPCO expects 1700 voluntary retirees by March

Tokyo Electric Power Co. (TEPCO) estimated a total of 1,700 voluntary retirees by the end of March 2014 since the 2011 accident at Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, local media reported Monday. According to the company's document, around 40 percent of the retirees are from the business strategy division at TEPCO's head office as well as nuclear engineers. Junior and mid-level employees younger than 40 years old comprise around 70 percent of all the retirees. Kyodo News said it raised fears that the loss of personnel could affect the utility's core activities, whose business prospects are uncertain. According to the document, the number of voluntary retirees totaled 134 in fiscal 2010 but jumped to 465 in the following year when the nuclear crisis erupted. The figure reached 712 in fiscal 2012 and TEPCO estimates that around 560 will leave the company voluntarily in the current fiscal year through March 2014. As part of its cost-cutting efforts, TEPCO is seeking to reduce its workforce to 36,000 by the end of fiscal 2013, down 3,600 from fiscal 2011. The crisis hit corporation needs massive funds to compensate people and companies affected by the nuclear crisis and to carry out the decades-long decommissioning of the Fukushima plant's crippled reactors.