Seven out of 10 HR departments plan to change their employee communication methods as a result of the economic downturn.

According to a survey of HR professionals and in house communicators by Allman Communication, this comes as 78% of 2009 HR budgets are either frozen or cut.

Of those responding to the survey 80% said they plan to increase their spend on face-to-face meetings with staff while 60% will spend more on company intranets.

Lesley Allman, managing director of Allman Communication, said: "Organisations are considering how best to communicate with their employees during hard times and tailoring their plans and spend accordingly.

"This is promising news as one thing that was learned from the previous recession is those companies that can maintain employee engagement and benefit from extra effort from their staff have a much better chance of surviving and flourishing during the tough times and beyond."