Over 3,000 Toshiba group staff apply for early retirement program

Over 3,000 employees of Toshiba Corp.'s group companies in Japan have applied for its early retirement program as part of the company's turnaround plans, sources familiar with the matter said Friday.The number represents about 5 percent of the domestic workforce at the Toshiba group, which is trying to rebuild itself after going private late last year in a 2 trillion yen ($13 billion) buyout from a consortium led by Japan Industrial Partners Inc.As part of the efforts, the troubled conglomerate said in May it will slash up to 6 percent of its workforce in Japan, or 4,000 jobs, by offering s…READ FULL ARTICLE