Japan may get its own rust belt

In the late 1980s, Nippon Steel Corp. and Japan's other 4 major steelmakers spent millions on diversification in response to a predicted long-term drop in demand for steel. These new ventures were intended to absorb the workers no longer needed in the steel business. However, very few of these businesses were successful. Nippon is giving employees 2 days off every month with pay and recently announced plans to reduce the workforce by 7,000, or 20%. Nippon once talked of reducing its reliance on steel from 80% of sales to 50% by 1995, but it still relies on steel for roughtly 84% of sales. For the 6 months ended September 30, 1993, Nippon Steel recorded a pretax loss of $156 million.