Sony is thinking about shutting down some of its facilities in Japan which have been having power issues since some of its nuclear and thermal power stations were damaged by the recent disasters. This has caused the Government to ask manufacturers to conserve power by lowering their energy consumption.
The Japanese Government is getting progressively more concerned about the state of the nations power and the large impact this is having on its product output, "There"s very high uncertainty on Japan"s outlook," said Naoyuki Shinohara from the International Monetary Fund, "If power shortages are prolonged or if the situation at the nuclear plant deteriorates, the outlook will change... the risk is firmly to the downside."
The power situation, which may get worse due to hotter weather, is having an impact of the nations companies which are having to give serious consideration how to minimize their consumption. According to the BBC, Sony has said that it is likely to move a few public holidays forward and ask some employees to work later in the year instead. George Boyd, a spokesman for Sony, told the BBC "We are looking to provide two weeks of holidays to workers to alleviate the electricity consumption" and he also explained how the company may "bring the work hours forward to cut electricity usage on a day-to-day basis as well."
Other companies are also following Sony, Toyota recently halted work at most of its factories in Japan with Nissan and Honda considerably slowing down production.
Image Source: Panoramio
