Businesses have been getting less generous with general or cost of living expenses, with a record low of only two-thirds of member companies indicating increases were granted to employees during 2009.

That is according to the Bermuda Employers Council (BEC), which published a summary of the findings from its Annual Salary Survey 2009 in the 2009 Annual Report released at its annual general meeting held at the Fairmont Hamilton Princess hotel this week.

A total of 156 members took part in the survey, representing the highest response rate to date, with 66 percent offering a rise in general or cost of living expenses - the lowest figure for at least eight years, down from 79 percent in 2008 and the previous low of 68 percent in 2004.

Broken down further, the study revealed that general or cost of living increases continued to vary across all industries, but most sectors were less likely to report granting them this year due to economic conditions.

However, despite year-over-year declines in the base salary and total cash compensation of companies in the reinsurance industry, all respondents in that sector again reported granting a cost of living increase in 2009.

Elsewhere, there was little change year-over-year in the proportion of companies in the hotel and restaurant sector granting general or cost of living increases, but the sector as a whole remained the least likely to award such rises.

Writing in his report, BEC executive director Martin Law said many of the organisation's members had been hit by the economic downturn and the BEC had been involved in numerous discussions with members about how to deal with the situation, advising them to do all they could short of making redundancies to cope with the realities of the business world.

"Sometimes redundancies are inevitable but we have seen many alternatives - cost cutting, pay freezes, pay reductions, shorter work weeks, job sharing, etc. - put in place as alternatives," he said.

"This is encouraging because companies' human resources are most often their prime resources and are difficult to replace."

Looking ahead to 2010, Mr. Law said the international business sector appeared to have weathered the economic storm so far, but its overall business model had shifted, with outsourcing and off-shoring challenging job retention in Bermuda going forward. He also believes the construction, tourism, retail and service sectors, which were the biggest employers on the Island, were likely to face real challenges next year, without much prospect for recovery until 2011 at the earliest, adding that they needed to work with Government on taxation, legislation and policy impacting employers and employees.

"It is in times like these that all sectors need to pull together - employers, unions, Government agencies, business associations and charities," he said.

Mr. Law added that the term limit policy continued to cause concern to employers, but he was mindful of Immigration Minister David Burch's comments that companies who made a compelling case to request exemption from the policy were likely to be granted their wish.