Car rental company Hertz will cut 4,000 jobs.

Car rental firm Hertz will reduce its global workforce by more than 4,000 employees in a bid to decrease costs.

The company, which operates in 144 countries and has around 29,350 employees, blames the job losses on a reduced rental demand. The cuts will be made in the car and equipment rental businesses, corporate and support areas in all regions.

Hertz has already reduced its workforce by 22% in the past two years. This latest round of cuts takes the total figure to 32% since August 2006. Hertz expect the cost reduction methods to save up to $170 million (£116m) in 2009.

Mark Frissora, Hertz Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, stated the actions were essential for the viability of the company: “Volume, pricing and residual values continued to decline during the most recently completed quarter and we cannot predict when our markets will improve.

“As a result, we continue to take aggressive action to align our costs, including wage and benefit expenses, with business conditions.”

Frissora also added that Hertz would add “necessary resources” when global conditions improved.