Dutch company bosses have become increasingly pessimistic about their operations over the past month and are looking for every opportunity to cut costs, the Financieele Dagblad reports on Monday.

The paper bases its claims on market research involving 980 companies, carried out on its behalf by TNS Nipo.

The index now stands at -58%, its lowest point since the research started 11 months ago. This means that 58% of employers are negative about turnover developments, earnings, contracts and the cost of personnel.

Just one in 10 firms has no plans to cut costs and almost half are keeping a very close eye on expenditure. In particular, interim and temporary positions are being cut, the FD said.

The pessimism among employers has been compounded by the government’s decision to impose a further €6bn austerity package in the autumn, the research showed.