TOKYO (Reuters) - About 6% of Nissan Motor staff in the United States have accepted early retirement packages, a company spokesperson said on Thursday, as part of the struggling Japanese carmaker's plan to cut 9,000 jobs worldwide.

Nissan had about 17,000 employees in the U.S. as of March, according to a security filing. Roughly 1,000 U.S. employees are set to leave Nissan by the end of this year as a result of the early retirements.

Nissan this month announced the global job cuts and a 20% reduction in manufacturing capacity after it slashed its annual profit outlook by 70% due to a sales slump in China and North America.

(Reporting by Maki Shiraki; writing by Kantaro Komiya; editing by Jason Neely)