Dutch firms are beginning to cut essential parts of their activities as well as unnecessary fat, research company Hay Group warns in Thursday’s Financieele Dagblad.

‘Sometimes firms panic,’ business solutions director Herman Koning told the paper. ‘You need to react quickly to survive but you need to keep essential services.’
Most jobs are currently being cut in finance, human resources, marketing and IT. Sales and research and development jobs are least likely to be hit.
However, some 30% of firms polled said they were not only making cuts, but also boosting their investments in order to boost their market share or strengthen their performance overall.
The Hays research shows Dutch firms expect the recession to depress turnover by between 5% and 30%, with the recovery starting at the end of next year.