‘More than half of workers’ affected by downturn

Over half (54 per cent) of all workers in the UK have either seen their hours reduced or their benefits cut during the economic downturn, according to a fresh poll.

The study by the Keep Britain Working campaign found 27 per cent of staff have had their wages reduced, while 24 per cent had their hours cut and 24 per cent lost benefits.

Approximately five per cent of all employees have been the victims of all three changes.

James Reed, founder of the independent campaign, has called for workers and HR staff to submit ideas to help Britain’s businesses.

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"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.

Meanwhile, Gerwyn Davies, public policy adviser from the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development, has claimed workers who are being made redundant currently lack interviewing and CV writing skills because they have not had to sharpen them for a while.