Most firms planning layoffs
Seven out of 10 Greek companies are expecting to go ahead with staff cuts in the next few months, the HR Pulse survey by ICAP People Solutions has found. In the same period one in three will also be reducing wages.
Already almost two in three firms (64 percent) have adopted some form of labor cost-cutting measures. For the next few months, the most common of these will be reductions in working hours, although no more than 15 percent of companies have adopted this strategy to date, the survey shows. Giorgos Haros, managing director at ICAP People Solutions, says this trend is set to grow in the next three months.
All survey respondents said they were examining plans to contain labor costs.
The report concludes that most companies at this point are opting for layoffs as a radically effective method to reduce their corporate expenses.
According to the October 2011 data compiled by the Hellenic Statistical Authority, the unemployment rate has already reached 18.2 percent.
