CLSA, the Asian brokerage, has asked one third of its workforce to consider taking a voluntary pay cut of up to 25 per cent in a move intended to avoid cutting jobs.

Those being asked to consider the salary cut - about 500 senior employees - have the option of taking a 15 per cent, 20 per cent or 25 per cent reduction, a spokeswoman for the group said.

CLSA Asia-Pacific Markets, the regional broking arm of Credit Agricole, the French bank, is among many financial companies trying to maintain staffing levels while dealing with the economic crisis that has deepened across Asia in the past few weeks.

When the new salary goes into effect next year, CLSA staff will receive money back if monthly cost targets are met. Staff will receive what they sacrificed as well as an incremental 8 per cent, 17 per cent, or 25 per cent depending on the agreed-on reduction, the spokeswoman said.

“We are expecting a very good response. What we’re trying to do is maintain our service level and avoid having to cut jobs.”

A similar effort in 2003 was a success, the spokeswoman added.

The global financial crisis has forced banks and other groups to cut thousands of jobs. Goldman Sachs last week said it was laying off around 10 per cent of its workforce.

Thousands of workers at JCB’s British assembly plants voted last week in favour of a £50 a week pay cut to prevent 350 staff losing their jobs. More than 4,000 employees will work a 34-hour four-day week as the maker of the yellow diggers and other machinery faces up to the economic slowdown.

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