Almost one in four Dutch employers last year asked their workforce to accept a reduced package of secondary benefits, and 10% tried to force through a pay cut, according to research quoted in Wednesday’s Financieele Dagblad.

Over 700 employers were questioned for the survey, which was carried out by human resources firm ADP, consultancy Berenschot and publisher Performa.

The research does not state if staff agreed to having their pay and conditions packages reduced but there are indications this has happened in many cases, Berenschot spokesman Hans van der Spek told the paper.

Of  employers who tried to cut their wage bill, 7% asked staff to forego their annual pay rise and 3% asked them to accept an actual wage reduction.

Financial service providers accounted for 44% of employers who wanted to pay staff less money, building companies 37%.