BT staff face pay freeze
The telecoms giant, which employs around 1,000 people in the Exeter area, said even top bosses would not be getting a pay rise.
The firm blamed the "tough economic climate" for the decision, which was met with anger from unions.
The majority of BT's workforce in the Exeter area is based at Exe Bridge House in Commercial Road, with others at the firm's telephone engineering centre on Exeter Business Park.
Company spokesman Jason Mann said: "BT can confirm that, after careful consideration, there will be no pay rises as a result of this year's review of salaries.
"This will apply to all UK employees, including BT's most senior executives.
"The company has informed its employees and unions.
"This has not been an easy decision but, given the tough economic climate, it is important BT meets these challenging times head on.
"Our unions have always been pragmatic in recognising the challenges that face BT and so we hope they will support our efforts to ensure BT remains a healthy and sustainable company for many years to come."
But Andy Kerr, deputy general secretary of the Communication Workers Union, said: "A pay freeze is wholly unacceptable. BT is still making substantial profits and a pay cut in those circumstances is an insult to staff.
"The CWU will be considering our formal response to BT's imposition of a pay freeze early next week."
In November last year, BT announced massive job cuts, shedding 4,000 direct employees and about 6,000 indirect staff, such as contractors, consultants and agency workers.
At the time the firm pledged that none of its 1,000 directly employed workers in the Exeter area would be made redundant.
The move came after BT reported an 11 per cent fall in second quarter pre-tax profits to £590m.
In January, the Echo reported that BT was to close its directory inquiry centre in Exeter.
More than 20 agency staff were laid off and nearly 40 directly employed workers redeployed to other roles as a result.
