IT staff targeted in firms' cost-cutting measures

IT staff have taken pay cuts

UK IT staff have been hit disproportionately hard by the recession, with 30 per cent having to swallow pay cuts, according to research.

A survey by the Keep Britain Working pressure group revealed that 54 per cent of UK workers had seen their take-home pay fall, as firms strip out costs in response to the economic downturn.

Overall, 27 per cent of employees had accepted pay cuts, 24 per cent had their hours reduced and 24 per cent lost benefits.

But IT workers have been hit harder: 30 per cent had their pay cut; 22 per cent had hours reduced; and 30 per cent lost benefits.

The research also suggested that many workers had experienced a combination of these changes. Furthermore, many employees are being burdened with extra responsibilities, and others are being offered sabbaticals at little or no pay.

Such changes are corroding morale - more than half of British adults are more pessimistic about job prospects than they were a month ago, according to the research.

But James Reed, founder of the Keep Britain Working campaign, believes that workers' willingness to accept pay cuts has helped minimise the levels of redundancies.

"The UK workforce has demonstrated unprecedented flexibility during this recession, allowing organisations to explore a whole range of cost-cutting responses other than relying solely on redundancies," he said.