New nationwide research, conducted by the recruitment agency review site, Hirescores, has revealed that nearly three in four workers would have taken pay cuts or worked fewer hours during the recession in a bid to save their company.
The organisation polled 1,298 people to see how far people would have gone during the recession in order to keep their jobs and save their company. Of those who would make a compromise, 63% said that they would have been willing to take a pay cut in order to save their company if the recession had affected the business financially.
Of those who said they would take a cut, 21% said they would have taken a cut of up to 5% if it meant they could stay in their current employment. Half said they would be willing to take a 2% decrease in their wages, with only one in 10 people claiming they would allow a 10% decrease. Of the people that said they would take a pay cut, half said they would only do so if their boss were to take one too.
More than six out of 10 (61%) of those polled said they would be willing to do more hours for no extra money in an attempt to help their employer. And 80% who believed this would help their company said they thought it would eliminate the need for the employer to hire temps or extra staff to cover the workload.
Of the 26% workers who said they wouldn't make an allowance in order to help their employer out, 34%, said they didn't care about the job that they had. Half (49%) said they were unable to make any changes to their working hours or pay due to their living commitments, while 17% said that they didn't like their boss enough.
Lisette Howlett, managing director of HireScores.com, said: "I think it is great that so many of those in employment are willing to make compromises in order to save their company, such as taking pay cuts, cutting down on hours and by taking unpaid holiday. This level of support should give many companies the confidence and ability to work their way through the recession.
"It is interesting to note how much more willing people became if their boss did something first, which says quite a bit about the importance of strong, authentic leadership during challenging times. Also interesting is the number of people who were not willing to make a change that stated that this was because they did not like their boss enough."
The top things employees would have done to save their jobs and company during the recession are:
1. Take a pay cut - 63%
2. Work overtime for no extra money - 61%
3. Work fewer hours - 52%
4. Go without annual bonus - 46%
5. Print less - 39%
6. Unpaid leave - 37%
7. Give up their company car - 35%
8. Give up their work phone - 33%
