Fujitsu cuts annual staff pay rise as Post Office scandal bites

Fujitsu has told its UK staff there will be no UK-wide pay rise this year as it prioritising a limited budget, fuelling anger among a workforce with low morale.

The announcement comes after a disastrous eight months since the wider public became aware of the IT supplier’s role in the Post Office Horizon scandal. Staff were informed of the decision on 10 September via a company-wide announcement.

“Prioritising how our limited pay budget is best used this year, there will be no UK-wide pay increases as there has been in recent years, and unfortunately the majority of colleagues can expect not to receive a pay increase this year,” read the statement.

Morale was already low due to the supplier’s role in the Post Office Horizon scandal, but the company’s statement on pay has stirred anger.

One source said: “Employees are furious with the leadership team and have lost confidence in their ability to reverse the decline. Trust in them is at an all-time low.”

Fujitsu told Computer Weekly: “UK employees have been notified of the pay review process. We do not comment publicly on our pay review process.”

The company has come under heavy criticism and scrutiny in the UK after ITV’s dramatisation of the Post Office Horizon scandal, Mr Bates vs the Post Office, which aired at the beginning of the year.

Fujitsu has provided the Horizon software and support to the Post Office and subpostmasters since 1999. The software had major defects that caused accounting shortfalls, for which subpostmasters were blamed, with many wrongly prosecuted as a result. Fujitsu played a role in helping the Post Office hide knowledge of errors from subpostmasters, blaming the users instead.

Between 1999 and 2015, hundreds of subpostmasters and branch staff were wrongly prosecuted by the Post Office and convicted for accounting shortfalls, based on evidence from Fujitsu’s flawed Horizon system. Fujitsu supported the Post Office in prosecuting subpostmasters and gave evidence in court claiming the system did not cause unexplained account shortfalls, despite knowing this could be the case.

In the UK, Fujitsu relies heavily on its large public sector business, which is a legacy of ICL, which Fujitsu acquired in the late 1990s. But since the Post Office scandal hit the headlines in January, Fujitsu’s public sector deals began to dry up, partly down to a self-imposed bidding ban and organisations distancing themselves from the supplier’s bad name.

There could be more financial challenges ahead in the UK, with MPs demanding that Fujitsu helps to cover the huge costs associated with the Horizon scandal – something that Fujitsu’s UK boss Paul Patterson agreed it was morally obligated to do.

Fujitsu’s lucrative contract with the Post Office to supply and support the Horizon system is also set to end, although problems replacing it have meant huge delays. In May 2022, it was revealed the project that was set to replace Horizon in 2025, but Fujitsu’s contract with the Post Office looks likely to be extended another five years, with the supplier set to receive another £180m of taxpayers’ money.

In June, Fujitsu announced cuts in its UK-based Oracle practice to reduce costs and increase competitiveness amid the fallout of the Post Office scandal.

The move comes after the Japanese IT giant told UK staff in April that about 100 sales, pre-sales and logistics jobs were to be cut, as the UK business outlook declined.

The Post Office scandal was first exposed by Computer Weekly in 2009, revealing the stories of seven subpostmasters, including Alan Bates, and the problems they suffered due to accounting software. It’s one of the biggest miscarriages of justice in British history (see below timeline of Computer Weekly articles about the scandal, since 2009). 

• Also read: Post Office and Fujitsu malevolence and incompetence means huge final taxpayers’ bill •

• Also read: What you need to know about the Horizon scandal •

• Also watch: ITV’s documentary – Mr Bates vs The Post Office: The real story •