Seiyu to reduce full-time workforce by 20 percent

Japanese supermarket chain Seiyu is to axe about 1,600 jobs according to a report in the Japanese Times. The cuts at the company, which is 37.8 percent owned by Wal-Mart, represent about 20 percent of its full-time workforce. It let 450 employees go in a similar programme last summer. Seiyu suffered a 8.4 billion yen net loss in the first half of the business year that ended in August. Its monthly same-store sales also remained below the previous year's level.