24-06-09 Sme’s more careful with crisis measures for the time being
A recent survey done by Acerta Legal Consult and Compensation & Benefits, showed that Flemish sme’s and sme’s located in Brussel are going about the current economic situation far less drastically than larger organisations with more than 100 employees. When asked about their intentions for further measures, smaller companies tend to want to cut back on costs in the same way as larger organisations. It seems, especially white collar workers will be hit in the near future.
The reason Acerta carried out this study is the series of measures being taken to deal with the crisis:
- the Interprofessional Agreement for the term 2009 – 2010 which aims to increase the purchasing power of the non-active population but which include measures to improve employment
- the announced measures for collective dismissal
- the recently enforced measures for economic unemployment and mandatory cutback of working hours
Acerta Legal Consult and Compensation & Benefits probed the HR directors, HR managers and company managers of 500 Flemish and Belgian companies to hear what pay and employment measures they are taking as well as their intentions for the future.
Pay measures
Only four percent of the surveyed organisations (small or large) carried out collective pay-cuts or is planning on doing so in the near future. Companies are clearly seeing more possibilities in acting on future pay. Almost 25 percent of large companies already announced a wage freeze, while another 10 percent are considering one. In companies with less than 100 employees these figures are respectively 20 and 5 percent.
With regard to bonuses, a similar evolution can be detected: almost 35 percent of larger organisations has decided not to give out any bonuses or is considering doing so (in smaller organisations this is only 15%).
Finally, it is especially larger companies who are taking a look at the gap between gross and net pay. No less than 17 percent of large organisations, currently already tries to optimise wage structures; more than 18 percent of these companies is considering taking a number of measures in the future to further optimise wages. This should than narrow the gap between the wage cost for the employer and the employee’s net salary. In sme’s, 10 percent of all those surveyed, already take into account the different possibilities for wage optimization. Almost as many sme’s are considering a number of measures that should make this possible in the future.
Employment measures
Almost 25 percent of large companies has carried out bare lay-offs (excluding early retirement). With sme’s this is only 15 percent. Temporary unemployment as a solution for a surplus of available workforce capacity, is used in almost 50 percent of all organisations with more than 100 employees. In organisations with less than 100 employees this is only 21 percent. For the private sector, the number of companies merely considering temporary unemployment is limited to about 4 percent. From this we can conclude that temporary economic unemployment will not expand in the coming months.
The crisis also leads to important changes in work organisation: 26 percent of large companies says that, as a result of the crisis, they have switched over to outsourcing or insourcing of certain activities; or that they have asked greater flexibility of their staff by redistributing the work. A good 10 percent is considering taking measures like these in the near future. Here, smaller companies also score remarkably high: almost 20 percent of the surveyed companies say they have carried out organisational changes like these and a roomy 5 percent is considering doing this in the coming period.
Sme’s and white collar workers will still follow
The survey numbers show that both in terms of employment and wage moderation, sme’s have reacted less drastically than their larger counterparts with more than 100 werknemers. However, this difference does need to be put into perspective because when asked about intentions for the future, all companies seem to have plans in this direction in the same proportion.
With regard to white collar workers, the last word has also not been said. Already, a large number of companies has taken actions to cut down their working hours. One in six large organisations however, expects further action will be needed here. Besides that, crisis legislation is expected to come our way. This would allow a special form of time credit, collective reduction of working hours and temporary unemployment.
