Employees at Fujitsu have voted for industrial action following a dispute over the state of pay, pensions and jobs, in news that may concern small businesses in IT.

Earlier this year, the company revealed that it would make 1,200 people redundant and earmarked another 6,000 workers as being at risk of the same fate.

As a result, members of the Unite union gave a majority vote of 74 per cent for strike action, while 92 per cent raised their hands for industrial action short of a strike.

Unite national officer for IT and communications Peter Skyte said that workers for the technology company are angry that Fujitsu paid out £150 million to shareholders as well as £1.6 million to two directors in compensation for their loss of office, yet believe that job cuts are the way forward.

"Fujitsu remains a highly profitable company and our members are insisting that the company must treat them fairly and increase pay, provide decent pensions and consult meaningfully to minimise job losses and avoid compulsory redundancy," the representative added.

The company currently employs 14,000 people and has an annual revenue of £2 billion.

More than half of small businesses (53 per cent) believe that the most important benefit of outsourcing is guaranteed response times for IT support. London-based Connect conducted the research in 2007.