Almost one in four bosses would cut all benefits

When asked which staff benefit they would like to remove if they could, almost a quarter of company directors opted for all of them.

In a telephone poll in May, undertaken by fleet management specialist Lloyds TSB Autolease, 200 directors were asked: "If you could start your employee reward scheme afresh which is the one benefit that you would cut back?"

They were given nine options and the one that got the most votes, at 23%, was "I wouldn't offer any benefits". Other options they would cut ranked:

• Company cars - 14%
• Bonuses - 11%
• Leisure perks, such as gyms - 8%
• Healthcare - 7%
• Pensions - 5%
• Childcare - 2%
• Holiday entitlements - 2%

Lloyds TSB Autolease corporate sales director Claudia Rose said: "These findings reinforce the view that HR departments are coming under enormous pressure to justify the role of benefits packages. In our view HR managers should have more of a say on far-reaching business decisions to ensure that blanket cost-cutting measures are not taken without due consideration to operational performance, morale, future recruitment and even brand reputation."