Some 4,000 employees who are in the defined benefit pension plan have begun receiving letters from the company informing them that Fujitsu services proposes to close the final salary pension scheme and is starting a 90-day consultation process. It is highly unusual for firms to limit the pension benefits of long term employees.

The final salary scheme was running at a £1 billion deficit, a Fujitsu spokesperson told CIO sister title .

A Fujitsu spokesperson said all pension benefits accrued to date in the final salary scheme will not be lost. "We are closing the plan for future accrual, but all money retained to date will be kept," he said.

Instead, Fujitsu will offer affected workers membership in a money purchase pension scheme. A money purchase pension is a defined-contribution plan where employer contributions are fixed and money is invested, for example, in the stock market. Unlike final salary pension schemes, there is no guarantee that a pension fund will pay out a set amount on retirement.

Peter Skyte, Unite National Officer, reacted angrily to the news. "Fujitsu Services is a highly profitable company and made £177m profit in the last financial year," he said.