Pay freeze culture sets in

Tough times: White collar unemployment has more than doubled in the last year

Seven in ten UK firms will not increase staff pay this year while hundreds of thousands of white collar workers face unemployment, research has found.

Figures from the British Chambers of Commerce (BCC) find 58 per cent of companies plan to freeze wages this year with a further 12 per cent intending to reduce them. Redundancies are a certainty for 12 per cent of firms and a further 38 per cent claim they will consider them.

Half of businesses lay the blame for the current economic malaise at the door of the banks and 37 per cent point the finger at the Government. Six per cent blame the Financial Services Authority. Just one in ten company representatives expects the economy to improve from here, with 62 per cent expecting it to deteriorate.

Figures from the Financial Times reveal Middle Britain has been particularly hard hit by the rise in unemployment. Last month there were 210,000 skilled, white collar workers claiming unemployment benefit, a 120 per cent spike on the same period last year. The number of corporate managers on the dole rose by 170 per cent.

BCC Director general David Frost will tell the business body's conference later today: "It is the country's private sector that has faced all the pain of this recession. The results of our most recent poll shows just how hard times are, with half of firms considering making redundancies.

"The Government must realise that the private sector cannot bear all of the pain. There was some support in the Budget, but more is needed to help Britain's embattled businesses so that they can drive our economy out of recession, creating jobs and wealth in the process."