Go work for Nissan - They are boosting workforce by 4,000!

[Mike]

TOKYO, April 25 (Reuters) - Nissan Motor Co (7201), Japan's third-largest automaker, will boost its group workforce by 4,000 in the year from April 1, the first increase since the 1999 launch of its revival plan, the Asahi Shimbun said on Thursday.

The newspaper said Nissan -- which has seen a dramatic turnaround since chief executive Carlos Ghosn was sent in by French partner Renault SA (RENA) in 1999 -- would hire new workers to boost its technological capabilities and gear up for a boost in U.S.-based production.

No one could immediately be reached for comment at Nissan, which is expected to have posted record profits in the business year that ended on March 31.

Ghosn has also said Nissan, 44.4 percent owned by Renault, expects a second straight year of record profits in 2002/03 thanks to a blitz of new products including its first minicar.

Nissan has met its three-year revival plan targets for profit and debt-reduction a year ahead of schedule and brought forward by a year its second three-year business plan, which calls for global sales growth of an extra million vehicles by March 2005.