SME job security ‘reliant on lower pay’

THE number of people employed in the small and medium sized enterprise (SME) sector will remain solid in the next six months, 83% of businesses leaders said is response to a recent survey.

That further job security will come at a price and will mean lower pay or wage freezes. Of the 330 decision-makers working in the SME sector taking part in the study, 56% warned they saw more pay cuts in an area of business where over 65% have already taken smaller salaries instead of job losses.

Fewer than 29% have implemented redundancies since April 2009, the survey found. At this stage in the economic cycle those pay cuts have been made in all sectors of the SME market.